But drinking at bars can be expensive, so students have turned to the Bow over pubs like the Sports Bar and the Boathouse, he says.

Between 11:15 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., the number of people in the bar has swelled. Three women from Lesley College sit around one of the tables in the middle of the bar. Other students cram narrow passageways, sit along the bar and crowd the small tables on the opposite wall.

Another Lesley trio stands next to the bar. One woman, junior Rebecca Tauber 21, mouths the words to En Vogue's song "Hold On." Tauber says she came to the Bow because it is now the pub in fashion, the place where the most fun can be had. She adds that this did not make all the bar patrons happy.

"One day I saw a bike-chick and she said all the college kids took over her bar," Tauber says.

The Regulars

Harvard students may now dominate the physical appearance of the Bow, at least on Thursday nights, but a solid group of regulars has retained their hold on the pub.

The greatest common denominator between the regulars is that they have come to the Bow for a long time. some are bikers. Many are working people. And all just love the bar.

The back of the Bow is their domain. From the newly-installed big screen sports television to the pit which holds three dart boards all the way up to the pole which marks the bar's midway point, the regulars roam.

John, a 28-year old Cambridge man, takes a look around the room and sees Bow history. "I saw Bruce Springsteen play here, before he got famous."

Beneath where the dartboard now hangs, the pit was once called "The Den of Iniquity," says John. "You could go there with your girlfriend and no one would bother you."

Now, he looks around, almost amazed by the spectacle of burly but preppy Harvard athletes pushing each other and chanting, fashionably dressed women talking and drinking.

He has a message for the students, a call for sensitivity: "I grew up here. You're here for four years. Don't ruin my one night out, spending Dad's money."

Says another regular looking at the huge crowd, "It's getting a little full right now. You just say excuse me and when he doesn't move, you throw him one of these." He makes the motion of giving someone a forearm.

But for most of the hardcore regulars, the new crowds are not a problem. In fact, they say they enjoy the opportunity to meet new and different people.

"My reason for coming here is the diversity. You can have everything from a street person to a millionaire here on a given night. The main thing is relaxation," says John.