By ADRIA CIMINO
The Associated Press

Ohio State students party it up on Spring Break.

If it's March, hundreds of thousands of college students are heading south, even south of the border.

It's spring-break time and that usually means sun, sand, surf and suds as the young scholars make their traditional pilgrimage to their favorite stretch of beach and bars.

If the students are no longer welcome in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., scene of the 1960 movie Where the Boys Are, many popular seashore communities pull out all the stops to attract them during an otherwise slow period. And they have devised some new ways to try to control rowdiness.

At the same time, spring-break activities away from beaches and booze are becoming more popular.

The beach remains the place to go for many students, however, and South Padre Island in Texas aggressively courts them with about $150,000 a year in advertising, which translates to $1 for each student expected this year.

With the island not far from Mexico, where drinking is legal at 18, students have no problem getting into some of the nightclubs just over the border.

Farther east on the Gulf Coast in Panama City Beach, Fla., rowdy students could end up in Spring Break Court. The idea is to allow those charged with misdemeanors such as underage drinking to spend a day doing community service, such as picking up litter, to avoid arrest records and fines. They also must wear an orange vest with ''Bay County Jail'' across the back.

The Panhandle city usually sees about 500,000 visitors during March, and Mr. Stark says they are welcome, even if a few do get out of hand. ''We're working to foster a good image of spring break,'' he says.

This year's events include job fairs and U.S. Navy demonstrations.

Affordable prices and proximity to colleges in the Northeast and Southeast make Panama City Beach popular, Mr. Stark says, but for a growing number of students distance is no longer an object.

Cancun, Mexico, is the top seller this year at Surf & Sun Tours, and students are traveling from around the United States to get there. As of mid-February, the tour operator had sold 20,000 airline seats, a 97 percent sellout, to Cancun, says Shawn Andreas, vice president of marketing.

The average price is about $700 per person, with round-trip air fare, seven hotel nights, transfers to and from the airport and seven breakfasts and dinners.

With traffic up for Cancun, it's down about 20 percent for Florida destinations. After some of Florida's unpredictable weather, students ''don't want to chance not enjoying a week of sunshine,'' Mr. Andreas says.

Away from the ocean, Black College Spring Break in Atlanta, known more widely as ''Freaknik,'' unfolds during the third weekend in April and welcomes African-American students from around the country.

''Atlanta is the Mecca for African-Americans all over the country,'' says mayoral spokesman Nick Gold. ''It's the birthplace of the civil rights movement.''

Then there is Alternative Spring Break, which sends students to do community service throughout the country. The University of Michigan program has grown from 15 students and two sites in 1989 to 470 students and 42 sites today. There's a $75 application fee, but demand has outstripped available space.

Albert Muzaurieta, a Michigan senior, is in his third year with the program and coordinates fund-raising. The students produce 20,000 hours of community service.

PLANNING