University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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Dodging eager hands, senior Psychology major Liz Hall takes full advantage of hosting the party. House cups, one of the unspoken rules of the house party, gave party throwers first dibs at keg beer. 5. Thomas photo by Robert Fowler Students partied everywhere, and the definition of social etiquette changed from each bar, frat, or house party to another. A popular source of entertainment, drinking games abounded at the University social scene. ! like beer pong and flip cup because they are the most social games, junior electrical engineering major Adam Breslawski said. In order to control who plays when, Breslawski recommended having people call dibs or next to reserve a spot in the line-up. Between all the re-racks, death cups , blowing and swatting, beer pong rules could vary drastically from party to party. A general stipulation was that the house rules had the ulti mate say. By the time a few games of beer pong had been won or lost, though, parties sometimes grew too large or too loud for the games to continue. Forcing people to leave could be a daunting task. I have no problem kicking people out, especially if it ' s someone I don ' t know, sophomore pre-med major Steve Graves said. Sophomore pre-law major Megan Dunagan recommended moving people outside instead of making people leave the party. This, however, had the potential to attract the attention of the police. To avoid noise violations, just make friends with your neighbors and don ' t live in the suburbs, Dunagan said. The overly-inebriated, stumbling student represented yet another frequent party risk. I don ' t like letting drunk people handle themselves. They might pass out somewhere or stumble into the street. You ' re just putting them more at risk by leaving them alone, Graves said. Dunagan disagreed: ! let drunk people do their own thing. If someone is wasted, they aren ' t going to listen to me anyway. It ' s not my job to baby-sit them. For others, a person passed out with his or her shoes on meant free reign to draw all over the inebriate ' s body. Despite the possible variances in party etiquette, students continued to both host and attend hundreds of parties each year. Concentrating on his shot, Dave Dahn plays a game of beer pong. Rules of the game varied as people went from party to party, but the hosts ' rules ultimately took precedence. 5. Thomas photo Party Etiquette 51

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house cups drinking games the person who had too much to drink be a firm believer in party etiquette A friendly sign asks for donations for the delicacy of the night. While most parties abstained from charging people for alcohol, it was acceptable for small groups of friends to all chip in a little cash. 5. Thomas photo 50 Michigan Life

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Sophomore math major Spencer Dowdall and sophomore LSA student Mia Brown are still friends after a recent breakup. Some couples chose a more civil type of behavior after calling it quits, turning their former relationship into a strong friendship. Tedjasukmana photo Lamenting after a breakup, engineering major Seth Miller lets out some hurt by playing his guitar. Perhaps the worst part for University students after a breakup was routinely seeing their ex on campus. Tedjasukmana photo 52 Michigan Life by Robert Fowler Almost all students experienced one thing in common while attending the University: dating. The dating scene here had been described as both diverse and relaxed. Michigan has a good dating scene because there is such a wide variety of people who are diverse in looks and interests, junior psychology major Baxter Allen said. The large student body practically guaranteed someone a potential match for a boyfriend or girlfriend. Before that could happen, though, people needed common ground on which to meet and mingle. The bar scene was a place that was always packed with single people. The single crowd scene at bars is great. The people there are interested in meeting other people and always go with a friendly attitude, sophomore English major Jon Anderson said. Other popular meeting grounds includ ed parties and class. Meeting people in class is the best. You get to see them in their most active and intellectual form. You get to see how they think, Allen said. Many students agreed that the worst places to meet people were early morning lectures, the library, and the Central Campus Recreation Building. Finding a common ground for single people was easy, but actually meeting and getting to know people was a different story. College students preferred more mature means of introduction than the cheesy one-liners once so popular in high school. Simply walking up to someone, introducing yourself and starting a casual conversation was one common method. ! don ' t try to seduce people. I just be my normal, cute, fun self, sophomore English major Anne Zaccardelli said. Yet another popular means of meeting someone was through a common friend. Aside from all these efforts to meet people, there were also advantages to being single. You have a lot more free time, and you don ' t feel like someone is worrying about you all the time. You just have to take care of yourself, Zaccardelli said. Whether at a bar, coffee shop or party, students were likely to either be in a relationship, actively seeking one, swearing off dating in a sign of frustration, or happy being single.