‘Tis the season... the season of pub crawls and drinking games, of happy hours and falling over in the street. That's right, the students have returned - to Newcastle, at any rate. They'll be back in Durham over the next week or two, and presumably Sunderland and Middlesbrough as well (it's not that we don't care about Sunderland and Middlesbrough, it's just that we don't have any reports from people who live there).
We reported today on local business' attempts to attract more students to the area, in the hopes of improving the local economy. But is this something that bdaily readers want?
Those of you living in the countryside might not have noticed - but the vast majority of our readers are city-dwellers, and we wondered what they thought of the sudden influx of undergraduates. Does it annoy you? Are you happy to have them back? Are you one of the horde yourself?
This week's Friday Poll asks: How do you feel about the return of the student masses?
It's great, they bring a real vibrancy to the place
I hate it, they really get on my nerves
I don't care either way
I hadn't even noticed
I am a student...
Personal note: our editor lives in a highly student-populated area of Newcastle, and has been cursing their return for the last two weeks. His local supermarket is now busier than Central Station at rush hour, his gym fills with students at 7.00pm (once Hollyoaks has finished), and an inebriated rugby player nearly threw up on him on the Metro. He is now counting down the days until the Christmas vacation, when he can safely walk the streets once more without being accosted by people with flyers proclaiming the latest quadruple vodka offer on a Tuesday night.
