The Baton Rouge bar scene seems an essential outing for some college students. But other students find alternative means of entertainment.
Baton Rouge offers alternatives for students who don’t drink and those who do drink but don’t bar hop.
Several movie theaters, restaurants and coffee shops offer later hours to attract college students.
For the culturally inclined, Baton Rouge and LSU offer a multitude of options to occupy free time.
Museums, a new planetarium and the various club and organizational activities on campus all are geared toward students.
“I’ll go sit in a coffee shop or Barnes and Noble and hang out for hours,” said civil engineering sophomore Christian Rinck. “Not that I’m nerdy, but sometimes it’s better to go somewhere with a better atmosphere than a bar.”
Those students who choose not to patron the bar scene do not necessarily abstain from drinking. For some students there is no need to go out at all to have a good time drinking with their friends.
“I prefer to hang out with my friends and drink in our apartments,” said sociology freshman Brandon Ulmer. “It’s more fun to sit around relaxing and playing drinking games at home than being in a crowded bar where you have to scream to hear each other.”
Expense is also a factor for a college student’s entertainment. Bar hopping costs can quickly add up with the prices of cover charges and drinks and can wreak havoc on a student budget.
“I live in Tigerland and I don’t go to the bars because I can’t afford to,” said Creighton Durrant, an ISDS junior. “There is always a cover charge and it’s just not my type of place to socialize. It’s cheaper to buy my own drinks and play video games or watch movies with my friends.”
Age is another deterrent for some potential bar hoppers. Students who are under 21 usually can get into the bars, but are stamped so they cannot buy alcoholic beverages.
“It’s easy for an underage girl to get guys in the bar to buy her drinks, but guys who are underage and really look underage can’t do much about it, and then they worry about getting caught,” Ulmer said.
The bar experience does not become a weekly ritual for those who find it monotonous.
Despite the stereotype of college students, bars do not appeal to everyone
“After the newness of the whole bar thing wears off it gets really old and boring,” Rinck said. “Then you realize that there are other and better things to spend your money on. You don’t have to go to a bar to drink.”