Next to shark attacks, what I’m about to tell you is one of the most feared incidents for chambers of commerce in any beach town. Some police call it the "Tarzan Incident."

It usually happens during spring break. Thousands of kids from colleges from all over the east and Midwest converge on the Carolina and Florida beaches.

For the kids it’s time to set aside books, lectures, and schedules. For many, it is a time to get "wasted," and find some "strange" - another name for girls away from home.

Motels during spring break rent to three or four students per room, with a sizeable security deposit. Lots of students, mostly guys, pack 12 or more kids into a single room. They figure, money saved on motels leaves more for booze. That’s gland-driven collegiate wisdom.

Authorities in beach towns usually cancel officers’ annual leave and days off during spring-break. Many cops work 12-hour shifts in anticipation of student uprisings.

Merchants, of course, resist the use of the word "riot" by the news media. Insurance companies may cancel coverage if the term "riot" appears in news reports.

Every year in many beach towns there’s at least one "Tarzan Incident" in which a young college boy is killed or maimed.

Boys are natural show-offs. Combine that tendency with too much booze and the "Tarzan" thing can result-leaping from balcony to balcony like the legendary Ape Man. Even Johnny Weismuller would not have been stupid enough to leap across open space with a concrete deck five stories below.

Boys, absent sober reasoning, also attempt to dive into motel pools from a room several stories up. This feat may "look" possible from atop the balcony railing. But the fact is, those who attempt this deadly dive miss the pool by 10 feet or more. They land head-first on ceramic tile. I know of nobody who ever survived this senseless stunt.

And pity the poor cops who must make death notifications, and are sometimes scolded by grief-stricken parents: "How could you let such a thing happen to my child?"