Recently, the legal drinkers of The Daily Eastern News staff ventured out to 14 bars for the traditional DEN bar crawl.

I’m proud to say we all made it through the night alive, and we had a great time. Although my judgment may have been slightly impaired after drinking for eight hours, I made some astute observations about Charleston night life.

Students on this campus consistently complain about the lack of entertainment options around these parts, and I agree to a certain extent. However, for those of us with sufficient identification, this town has nearly 20 bars which offer a diverse range of atmospheres.

Most students know which bars attract certain crowds. Stu’s is a favorite among the Saturday Night Fever wannabes, Ike’s is a favorite among the greeks and Stix sort of defies classification.

For instance, last Monday my roommates and I decided to imbibe on a few cold ones and watch some Monday Night Football at Stix. We were expecting a laid-back, dressed-down crowd of football fans, and the bar was fairly tranquil until about midnight.

Once all the games were over, the lights dimmed and the DJ began busting out your typical top-40 dance hits. Suddenly, two Barbie doll look-alikes began gyrating on the dance floor, bumpin’ and grindin’ with each other like something out of a Wreckx N Effect video.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a round of rump shaking with the girls once in a while, but on a Monday night?

Perhaps I’m getting older and less ambitious, but I can’t understand why women on this campus feel the need to dress and dance like strippers to get attention from men. I see attractive girls degrading themselves every weekend, or even on Mondays, wearing fishing-lure halter tops and skin-tight pants, on their way to Stix, Stu’s or wherever else they can get their groove on.

On any given Thursday night, it’s a guarantee there will be a throng of females wearing practically nothing, shivering in line to get into Mom’s.

For what? A bunch of drooling guys and crappy music? If I have to hear “Back That Azz Up” one more time, I’m going to back a truck up over the DJ booth, but that’s another column altogether.

To avoid such spectacles, I opt to stay away from the bars as much as possible. But for the rest of students who just want to go out, relax and get a drink, all hope is not lost.

There are a number of hidden gems on this campus to wet your palate at. As we shuffled around Charleston, going from bar to bar, we found we enjoyed ourselves more at the smaller, quieter bars.

Drinking frosty beers at the Icy Mug and listening to classic vinyl at the Mad Hatter were the highlights of my bar crawl experience. Friends lived up to its name in terms of atmosphere and Mike and Stan’s, with newly remodeled bathrooms, was the perfect little hole in the wall.

These local haunts provide a chilled setting where genuine people can hold conversations without screaming and being bumped into by a bunch of belligerent drunks.

My fellow bar crawlers and I had fun at the crowded, dance-crazed bars as well, and everyone had a personal favorite out of the 14 bars we patronized.

Eastern’s bar choices, much like Charleston’s plethora of churches, at least offer some variety in atmosphere, regulars and music. There’s something out there for everybody, so students, myself included, should quit whining and take advantage of the selections we have.