Party wooooo science woooooo

July 26, 2005 8:21 PM

In science's longstanding tradition of stating the obvious, Dartmouth has just released a study on drinking culture that confirms everything you already knew. I'm so keeping a copy of this and giving it to my brother when he goes to college so he can show the RA. WOOOOO!
posted by saysthis (20 comments total)

Beer pong and similar drinking games are not played solely to achieve inebriation, Alverson finds, but instead serve as a competitive outlet for high-achieving students, and a structured atmosphere for peer interaction.

You know, I always said that drinking games were important for the social stucture and competitive outlet they provide. Damn those scientists studying the obvious.
posted by carmen at 8:35 PM on July 26, 2005

Blow, blow, blow! OMG that stinking little ball just went off the table past my face. Chug, chug, chug-a-lug. Team: Power boot.
posted by caddis at 8:40 PM on July 26, 2005

Anybody else think immediately of that Onion article "Studies find that Binge Drinking is a f----in' blast"? Can't find a link right now, but that's the first impression I had.
posted by .kobayashi. at 8:46 PM on July 26, 2005

Research. It was all research.
posted by dhartung at 8:52 PM on July 26, 2005

Anthropologists??? Sounds like a job for ***naaah-nah-nah-NAAH!*** Sociologyman!
posted by spock at 9:14 PM on July 26, 2005

For his report, Alverson compiled selections from his students that most effectively characterized overall patterns at the College."

So research had to be done to illustrate the cultural component of college drinking, but Alverson knows what information best described the "typical" college pattern?!
posted by Jenesta at 10:37 PM on July 26, 2005

caddis: At Dartmouth, when they say "pong", they're not talking about blowing anything... what some call "beer pong" in other places, they call beirut. They play actual BEER PONG, with paddles and bounces and everything. They are real proud of that fact, too, and get upset if you refer to beirut as beer pong.
posted by Embryo at 10:39 PM on July 26, 2005

Um, am I the only person who thinks that some of this is NOT obvious, or at least, not obvious to the campus administrators and the lawmakers who seem to think that if they just keep jacking up the penalties for on-campus drinking, that these social groups will give up on beer and play tiddly winks instead?
posted by KirkJobSluder at 11:11 PM on July 26, 2005

A Dartmouth alumnus.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 11:18 PM on July 26, 2005

Ooh! I know what'll work real good - let's try prohibition, that worked so swell.
posted by odinsdream at 11:19 PM on July 26, 2005

Bah, typical anthropologist. Always worried about disturbing the intricate lattice of cultural processes and less concerned about cutting down on the rape and alcohol-related fatalities.

I'm with spock: bring on the sociologists!
posted by xthlc at 11:31 PM on July 26, 2005

"But I do think alcohol is the one thing that’s saved me from suicide several times."

Wow, how often do you think you'll hear that in your life?
posted by mikeweeney at 12:23 AM on July 27, 2005

I actually go to Dartmouth, and this report was met with a resounding "well... ok, yeah." This is a school where people start their weekends on Wednesday. And yeah, pong here is hardcore with ping pong paddles and all that jazz. And people do get angry when you confuse it with beirut.

Being out in the middle of nowhere, two hours from any major city, there's no nightlife so instead of hanging out in bars and clubs, most people spend their weekends in filthy frat basements. Also, we just had a party weekend where most of the afternoon on Saturday was spent floating on the Connecticut River, heavily intoxicated and sailing shoddily made rafts.
posted by strikhedonia at 1:47 AM on July 27, 2005

And yeah, pong here is hardcore with ping pong paddles and all that jazz. And people do get angry when you confuse it with beirut.

The same goes for Princeton. Some people here are scarily devoted to pong.
posted by oaf at 2:11 AM on July 27, 2005

At Princeton it is blow pong. Faces on the table, no net, blow the ball off the other team's edge or side of the table.
posted by caddis at 3:55 AM on July 27, 2005

Ah....so thats why the river smelled like malt and hops in Hartford, CT yesterday!!!
posted by cpchester at 5:46 AM on July 27, 2005

This is kinda 'duh." But it seems that the only people who don't understand the issues are the administrators trying to combat them. Remember this? Or just think of the Abstinence sex-ed programs.
posted by es_de_bah at 5:49 AM on July 27, 2005

Anthropology prof studies pong, binge drinking

I think they misspelled bong in the headline.
posted by Pollomacho at 7:14 AM on July 27, 2005

I have played beer pong at Dartmouth and I never expected that fact to be relevant to any discussion here at Metafilter.

I also got lost one time, found my way into an unlocked building, and passed out under a table in the math building at Dartmouth. I awoke to some cleaning woman at around 7:45 who said, "Are you almost done in here? Class starts in fifteen minutes and it smells like a brewery in here."
posted by flarbuse at 5:57 PM on July 27, 2005

The only time I ever had one of those wake up missing items of clothing and not remembering a god damn thing nights was when I played beer pong. I've retired.

Who needs a game to help get them drunk? I've never understood it. Just play a non-alcohol related game and let me get drunk at my own pace.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 9:46 PM on July 27, 2005