"In some ways I think it's kind of good there aren't a lot of bars in the Square, because it makes you use Boston more," says Nick Harney '89. "Sophomore year, when I was one of the only people I knew old enough to drink, I found myself getting into the city a lot:"

Psychas says that she and her friends have also found themselves going out of the Square to drink. "I've been into Central Square some," she says. "It gets you into a different part of town, but I still wish that there were more places in the Square."

Not all students have found the lack of bars in Harvard Square to be a problem.

"Most of the time I just go to parties in peoples' rooms," says Shelagh Kenney '90. "I'm not 21 so I probably wouldn't get served even if I did go to a bunch of bars. And it's not fun to waste a whole evening trying to chance it and see if you get in."

Area bars say they are rigorous in checking students' identifications. "We check I.D.'s strictly," says Brown, who scrutinizes identifications at the Boathouse. "I'm not going to have any sympathy for people under 21 who are trying to get in. I think they can usually find other places to drink, and besides, the risk of losing our license or being closed down is just too much."

But some students say they would rather attend parties than go to bars.

"I think most students would rather go to a party in someone's room than to a bar anyway," says a Dunster House senior. "All your friends are there, they all know you, and they don't card," she says.

And Abby Shapiro '90 agrees that parties in dorm rooms appeal to her more than does a bar scene. "It doesn't seem to me that there is a real campus bar crowd. There isn't a lot of public alcohol, and there aren't any frats or campus funded alcohol events. Going to bars is expensive, too. So I just tend to hang out here with my friends."

Shapiro says she thinks a bar scene would encourage people to mingle more. "It seems like students might meet more people in a bar," she says. "They might get to know a different crowd than they would see at parties and stuff."

But unless the bar scene improves in Harvard Square, many students will have to settle for less--like private parties or an Orangina at Au Bon Pain.