NEW ORLEANS, May 20 - For some people, driving their sports utility vehicle is nothing but pure pleasure, even though the current gas prices may be painful to the pockets.

Freddie Harris, a Dillard University chef, said he spends about $50 a week to fill his Chevrolet Tahoe. But to him, it’s worth it.

Harris, whose front license plate reads “Pure Pleasure Truck Club,” loves his Tahoe. He doesn’t want a smaller, more fuel-efficient car — even though New Orleans gas prices averaged $1.89 this year compared to last year’s $1.27 average, according to neworleansgasprices.com. But, people still love their SUVs.

“Riding in a compact car is too close to the ground,” Harris said.

Harris said he didn’t buy the Tahoe because it has more storage space, or because it will fit more people.

“My truck’s a cruising truck, not a work truck,” Harris said about his SUV, which gets 14 miles to the gallon.

SUV lovers who refuse to sell their gas guzzlers feel the same way. They are upset about the high gas prices, but not upset enough to trade in their SUVs for something a little bit more fuel efficient.

Alexander L. Butts III, a floor manager at Brandt Ray Toyota of Metairie, said SUV sales haven’t decreased despite gas price increases.

“If someone wants that type of vehicle, they are going to buy it anyway,” Butts said.

However, according to the sales tracker, Autodata, April sales of big SUVs fell 15 percent compared to last April’s sales. Yet, total sales for 2004 were still up about 8 percent.

Butts said there was a high demand for the Toyota Prius, a hybrid compact car, which is capable of getting an estimated 55 miles per gallon, according to Toyota. Butts said that Toyota sold out of the Prius in a matter of months.

He said that there was a “list as long as my arm” of people interested in purchasing the hybrid vehicle.

Toyota also plans to launch a hybrid version of its Highlander and RAV4 SUVs in late 2004, according to the Toyota Web site.

Eventually, all of Toyota’s vehicles will be hybrids, according to Butts. Until then, large truck lovers will have to continue to pay high prices for gas.

Ty Viger, sales manager at Advantage Ford on Service Road, said sales have remained about the same at his dealership despite the increased gas prices.

Viger said he believes the media have made the issue of rising gas prices worse than it really is.

“I’m not saying high gas prices are a good thing, but it’s not as horrible as people are making it out to be,” Viger said.

Nationwide sales are telling a different story. Autodata reports that sales of Ford SUVs have fallen 6 percent in April compared to the previous year.

Chris Croly, the sales manager at A&C Auto Sales on Broad Street, said he thinks SUV sales will bottom out in about a month, and then people will be more interested in gas-efficient vehicles. He said that by the time people start buying more fuel-efficient cars, the gas prices will probably be on the decline.

“We Americans are kind of slow on the uptake,” Croly said.

However, when it comes to fuel, SUVs are not.

For people like Harris, who loves to “cruise” in his SUV, it really doesn’t matter.

“I just love trucks,” he said.

Students at the 2nd annual New York Times Student Journalism Institute at Dillard University are gaining more than journalism skills during their two-week training session in New Orleans.

They’re also gaining poetic recognition.

Russell Nichols, a rising senior at Florida A&M University, and Gabrielle Finley, a recent graduate of the same university, won a poetry contest, along with four Dillard students.

The event was sponsored by the Carl Holmes Executive Development Institute, a one-week program designed to teach management concepts to minority firefighters from around the nation.