<p>To answer your question directly, as to how many Bowdoin students drink the way that Steve described: I’d say the proportion is very little. I’m willing to say that the percentage of students who black out more than 5 times a semester is less than 10%. Bowdoin students like to drink, but it is more often about having a good time than just drinking to get drunk. For instance, I’ve had a bunch of “beer club” parties with my friends, where we each bring a different micro-brewery 6 pack to trade with each other.</p>
<p>As for the rest of my ramblings about Steve’s article and Bowdoin’s drinking culture:</p>
<p>Steve (the author) is a good friend of mine. His columns in the Orient usually revolve around political themes and he enjoys using his column to make slightly outlandish statements, fully expecting letters to the editor in angry/upset/insulted response to his musings. In other words, I think Steve’s article needs to be taken with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>In my reading, the point of his article was more about changing Bowdoin’s hard alcohol policy ban than anything else. Bowdoin has always had a great relationship between students and security, with the philosophy being that security will tolerate safe drinking among students as long as it is not out of control. The point of the hard alcohol ban was that drinking hard alcohol increases the chances that you’re drinking will become unhealthy and/or unsafe. Steve’s point was that the ban is counterproductive and actually leads to more clandestine/unhealthy drinking than would otherwise exist on campus.</p>
<p>Particular points in his article that I think are overblown:
“In all Bowdoin students there exists a sort of social angst. Do I belong here? Do I look OK? Am I smart enough, pretty enough or rich enough?” I think it’s fair to say that students have these thoughts but not that they drive them to drink excessively every weekend. Also, I don’t think these “angsty” questions are unique to Bowdoin students… </p>
<p>“blacking out, drinking to the point of unconsciousness, is commonly thought virtuous”. I disagree. There may be a small minority of students who feel this way but “commonly” seriously exaggerates that small sector of the population.</p>
<p>I also wanted to challenge your statement that “their groupthink will make them view the outsider as someone who thinks he/she is above them by not drinking for such reasons.” One of my best friends freshman year didn’t drink in hs and still wasn’t comfortable drinking when she got to college. She hung out with us while we watched Scrubs/the Office and came with us to social house parties and there were no hard feelings or resentments on my part or hers for the fact that I was drinking and she wasn’t. More than anything else, you will find Bowdoin students to be open to other people’s decisions… “Hey man if you don’t want to drink that’s no problem.”</p>
<p>The reality of the situation is this: When you get to college, no matter how well adjusted you are before you get there there is going to be some anxiety and insecurity. There will also be drinking at whatever college you choose, and there will be a small minority that drink in excess. I have found Bowdoin students more responsible with drinking than I have at other colleges that I visited both as a prospective student and visiting friends once we were both in college.</p>