Is Anyone Over-age ?

Question: what do you call 100,000 drunken preppies lined up along the banks of the Charles River?

Here's a hint: it's not a Future Yuppies of America convention.

"It's a big prep reunion," said freshman Rosie Weld, an Andover graduate. "People come from Penn and Dartmouth and all over. The population doubles because everyone has someone staying in their room. It's a zoo," she added.

Some students will have more than just one ex-prep school buddy visiting. Just ask freshman John Bernstein, another Andover grad. "All my friends from prep school come up, "he said. "I have six friends spending the weekend. It's just a huge party."

The event and alcohol have become almost synonomous over the past few years, with "people drinking everywhere," according to Bernstein, who will be rowing in a freshman boat for the Crimson. "I've heard stories of crews bringing champagne during the race and breaking it out after they're finished," he added.

Thousands line the Charles River banks for a parade of races, beginning at 8:45 a.m. and continuing through the late afternoon, all of them with "alcohol in hand," according to Kirkland House senior Sarah Weld.

But most of the spectators aren't really there to watch the crew competition. "Who cares about the race?" asked junior Paul Gaffney of Quincy House. "Most people don't know anything about crew," he explained, "so they just drink and then read the results in the paper the next day."

Kirkland junior Paul Stockman agrees: "You've got boats going both ways, and after a few drinks you need a program to figure out who's racing," he said. "No one wants to spend money on a program when they can spend it on alcohol."

Stockman also had some advice for first-time partiers. "Planning is very important," he explained. "The races are Sunday and the liquor stores are closed so you have to be sure to buy a lot on Saturday."

And what do the police think about all this (largely-underage) public drinking?

According to Marc Holmes of the race committee, drinking at the event will be "governed by state law" with the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) in charge of crowd control. "There will be no public drinking whatsoever," he said.

But most students don't believe the rules will be enforced.

"Every year there's a lot of talk about the MDC cutting down on open containers and they never do," Stockman said.

"Everyone was worried last year [about the supposed MDC crackdown] but there were kegs all over the place," said Gaffney. "It's too convenient," he continued. "We just happen to live a few minutes away from the world's largest party."

Answer: The Head of the Charles.