UT students still prefer going out for a beer on Thursday nights. That is the result of an on-line UT-Nieuws poll, conducted by Newcom. The questionnaire was completed by 225 students.
The widely praised breezer did not beat beer. Three-quarters of the bar visitors prefer beer. Eleven percent drink soft drinks, and ten percent drink wine. The rest drink either hard liquor or prepackaged mixed drinks.
The preference for beer may be related to the cost. A beer is after all the cheapest alcoholic beverage, and the average student only wants to spend between ten and twenty euros in one night. Twenty percent spend less than ten euros. A fifth of the students spend between twenty and thirty euros.
Sixty-four percent of polled students indicate catching up with friends to be the most important reason to go to town. A mere four percent seek good conversation; ten percent consider dancing to be most important consideration.
It turns out that most students do not go out to bars in Enschede weekly. Nearly half of those questioned go out only once or twice a month. Fourteen percent never go out; a quarter of the respondents go out three to five times; ten percent, six to nine times a month. Only four percent are real diehards and go out more than ten times a month. Of course, it is possible that many students go out in their hometown during weekends; the questionnaire specifically asked about going out in Enschede.
Three-quarters of the students think Thursday is the best day to go out; eleven percent prefer Saturday.
When the students go home after a night out, one quarter of them does so after ten or more drinks. Thirty-five percent drink seven to nine glasses; a third of the participants drinks four to six glasses.
Where do these party animals go? Most prefer Lunatic, De Geus or Aspen Valley. A sizable minority prefer various others, namely the Boemel, Vestingbar, Kater and Pakkerij. Asked why they favor a certain bar, the results were inconclusive. Students make that choice mostly based on the fact that they can meet their friends at a given bar (deciding factor for eighty percent), on the music (63 percent), on the price of a drink and on the clientele. Only one percent of those questioned consider safety to be of overriding importance in the selection of a certain bar. The reason could be that students feel safe in Enschede. The sense of security is rated a 7.7.
Overall, students that go out in Enschede rate its nightlife a 6.6.
