THE NIGHTLIFE

But for all the hype over this weekend's game, it is only football -- merely one aspect of the influence both institutions have had on the pop cultural (and, not to mention, academic) landscape here. That means, for those of us who don't have our noses in the books, they offer a variety of extracurricular activities.

On campus, each university presents arts and entertainment programs. Off campus, each school serves as a hub for night life. Fortunately, you don't need to shell out tuition and fees (in the ballpark of $7,000 at UCLA, and more than $33,000 at USC) to participate, and you don't need to wear the right colors when you show up. On the following pages, you'll find slices of life from a few realms of the crosstown revelry.

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PICKING a favorite watering hole is as much a collegiate right of passage as deciding on your third change of major. And like everything else that Trojans and Bruins fans bicker about, the rivalry over who parties harder is a contentious issue. UCLA fans mock their USC peers for flashing daddy's American Express Black card at Greek mixers, while USC faithful simply shrug and ask, "Wait, doesn't Westwood have a 10 p.m. curfew?"

We scoped out a few notoriously student-heavy bars around downtown and the Westside to see how Los Angeles' young scholars are really spending their student loans.

Heading downtown

The big trend of the year in USC nightlife is one of migration. As local dives such as the 9-0 (a.k.a. the 901 Club) and fraternity row on 28th Street have become played out and heavily policed, students are flocking north into a gentrifying-by-the-hour downtown. Barely-legal film studies and economics majors are staking claims on the Golden Gopher, Cole's P.E., Bar 107 and the like, much to the chagrin of the financiers and art-damaged hipsters who've set down tentative roots in downtown's burgeoning nightlife.

"There's not a lot of bars near them, they didn't have anywhere to go," said Daniel Ness, manager of the Golden Gopher. The variety, proximity and affordability of downtown's bars are natural draws for a student population with little to do in its own neighborhood, save an administration-approved pint at the on-campus bar, Traditions.