It's 11 p.m., Monday, Oct. 10 and senior Andrew Phillips has class at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. While some IU students are spending their Monday nights at home studying or sleeping, Phillips and his roommates, seniors Jonah Pryor and Ben Falk, are sitting on the patio at Kilroy's on Kirkwood enjoying the weather and hoping to achieve their near-daily goal: to get drunk.\n"Going out and getting drunk are one and the same," Pryor says. Even if it's Monday.\nTraditionally, Mondays serve as the start of the work week, and Fridays serve as the end. Therefore, Friday and Saturday nights have generally been the nights when students kick back and go out, without the burden of class the following days. But with students like Phillips, Pryor and Falk, going out Mondays, is the traditional weekend disappearing?
When does the weekend start?\nPhillips, Pryor and Falk say although they're out Monday, their weekend technically begins Wednesday and ends Sunday night. In fact, they say Wednesday is their favorite night to go out. But they say sometimes it's hard for them to go out Saturday, as they've gone out nearly every night before, and maybe even Saturday afternoon.\n"Saturday is hard because you've gone out every night before," Pryor says. "Weeknights are better than the weekend, everyone's way to hungover on the weekend." \nIU alumna Lindsey Buchanan and senior Stefanie Sager say they also enjoy Monday night at Kilroy's.\n"If you go anywhere on Mondays, you go to Kilroy's," Buchanan says, "because no matter what, it's always a little bit crowded."\nBuchanan says as an undergraduate student, she normally went out Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, but Tuesday and Friday were her break days.\nBuchanan and Sager say going out throughout the week does not make the weekend any less special, but for them, Thursday starts the weekend.\n"People let loose on Thursday," Buchanan says.\nPsychology professor Phillip Summers says when he was a student at IU 45 years ago, the weekend was the end of the week.\n"It's very different today," he says. "We didn't have 'Thirsty Thursday.' It probably began 10 to 15 years ago."\nSummers says many factors affect the start of the weekend, including four-day class weeks and students leaving campus on weekends. And, he says, students aren't participating in the same weekend activities he participated in as a student.\n"Many students party during the week because they're gone on the weekend, even on Homecoming," he says. "Students do not participate in the traditional weekend, as in having campus life. Myself, as a student, I joined a frat, (but) went to a lot of basketball games, football games and went to dances on campus. (I had my) own activities in the frat, but joined in campus activities."\nSummers says he had students write about what they did for Homecoming and was surprised by how many didn't go to the game. He says students said they were hungover, the game was too early and they wanted to rest to party that night.
Sporting events\nOn the other hand, watching a game is often what draws people to bars during the week.\nCarey Pittman, front bartender at Nick's English Hut, says while Nick's is usually busy Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the bar is always busier when games are on TV.\n"When there's football in town (the crowd is) bigger," he says. "And home basketball, whatever the night is, is a big night."
School Nights\nPhillips, Pryor and Falk say they went to Kilroy's that night because the football game was over, and they had nothing better to do, even though they had class the following day. Phillips, who had class at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday says he would probably zone out in class anyway.\nStudents who zone out in class might perform poorly, says psychology professor Peter Finn. He says 18- to 22-year-old individuals need eight hours of sleep each night.\n"If you don't get enough sleep, then you have more problems or difficulties maintaining attention in class, concentration on your work, and learning and remembering new material," he said.\nSummers says he once had two students fall asleep in class during a test.\n"One was because of late-night partying," he says. "One was doing something for an organization. I asked my freshman class how many go to class intoxicated or hungover, a high percentage responded."\nWhen asked if getting drunk Monday night would affect their performance in class the following day, Phillips, Pryor and Falk enthusiastically replied, "Absolutely."\nMary Kilgory, a member of Kilroy's doorstaff, agreed that just because students go out on school nights, it doesn't mean they won't make it to class the next day.\n"We have loyal customers, people are here every night," she says. "A lot of people probably have schedules they can work around."\nFinn says he's unsure how students justify going out school nights, but "if they get their work done before going out, or are organized enough to make sure that they get things done, that could be a justification. But generally speaking, students who go out a lot during the week, and have difficult classes with lots of work, will not do as well as they could." \nSummers says he thinks there are two groups of students who go out during the week: one is students who have been successful and are making grades. These students tend to be upperclassmen, he says, who know their limits and come up with strategies for balancing work and play that work for them. The other group, he says, is new students who have yet to prove themselves academically. He says these students don't know how much time class requires, and they're more concerned with fitting in than older students are.\nSummers added that there are some factors that affect students in these two groups. These factors are peer pressure, special events to celebrate and activities hosted by student organizations.\n"Students say 'I'll do my homework when I get back,'" Summers says. "They are in denial of what they have to do."\nSenior Kelly Meadows says when she goes out for her weekly Monday happy hour at Kilroy's she's well aware of what she has to do.\n"I never get too drunk that I can't function later," she says. "Monday is too early to start the week with a hangover. I make time to do (my work) later."
Daily Specials and Bowling\nWhile Meadows may not go to Kilroy's Monday afternoon to get drunk, she says the cheap drinks don't hurt.\nIn fact, every Monday at Kilroy's is Happy Hour all day and all night. \nFalk took advantage of Happy Hour specials when ordering fried mushrooms and two orders of breadsticks at $.50 each. He and his friends say they enjoy $.15 draughts at the Bluebird Wednesdays, when their weekend begins.\nWhile there are nightly specials for students to enjoy across Kirkwood, some students choose to enjoy cheap beers and cheap bowling at Suburban Lanes, 2634 N. Walnut St., especially on Tuesdays.\nSenior economics major Mike Beeler says he thinks the weekend is definitely changing.\n"It's starting to evolve into a Wednesday thing because of the Bluebird; Tuesday is bowling night," he says.\nBeeler is not the only student bowling Tuesday night. In fact, Suburban employee Ross Atherton says Tuesday is often the bowling alley's busiest night because games are only $1.25 and 16 oz. draughts are only $1.\nAtherton says he thinks students go out late on school nights because they like to drink.\n"That's what I'd be doing if I weren't working," he says.
After Graduation\nGoing out weeknights is exciting in college, but how long can the fun last post-graduation?\nFinn says he thinks the weekend is not disappearing for full-time working adults.\n"For adults with jobs and families, the weekend is very real and seems to be experienced, for the most part, as a time for relaxation and recreation," he said in an e-mail.\nOn the other hand, Summers says he thinks the weekend is changing for other, non-college students.\n"After a busy week of work people want to relax and not have a scheduled weekend of activity," he says. "(They want) catch-up time with family and with work."\nBuchanan says now that she's working as a production coordinator for an entertainment company in Los Angeles, she's still able to go out once or twice a week for drinks.\nAs for Phillips, Pryor and Falk, they say they aren't sure about going out after post graduation, but Falk says he doesn't think he'll be able to go out work nights next year.\n"I have to get drunk now (while I can)," he says.\n"Yeah," adds Pryor. "You only live once"
