After being sidetracked by Spring Break's glamour and the Pub controversy, I'm finally back in my journalistic wheelhouse writing about sex. It's about time to revisit the enigmatic yet simple question: "What's your number?"

Last year, my illustrious predecessor, '07 grad Lauren McGrath, wrote an article entitled "Your number does not mean anything." I'm sorry Lauren, but I beg to differ.

While in an ideal world the number of people you've had sex with wouldn't matter, today at Bowdoin it is seen as a defining aspect of your personality. I've overheard the following conversation, between both sexes, more times than I wish to recall:

Pat: "Who's that?"

Jesse: "That's [insert name here]"

Pat: "How's his attitude?" or "Who has he hooked up with?"

Jesse: "Hmm... I can't talk/date/hookup with him, he's damaged goods."

While it shouldn't matter how many people you've slept with in your life, it unfortunately does to most people.

I believe characteristics like honesty, caring, respect, and sincerity are exponentially more important for judging one's character than how many people that person has slept with. If you're asked "the number" question and you answer by saying "30 people," you will be met almost uniformly with shock. If you're a guy, then you'll either be a "manwhore" or "the man" depending on your audience. If you're a girl, you will almost always be labeled a slut. I know these labels are wrong, and they unfairly eclipse personality.

I myself have been unfairly labeled as a jock because I happen to play hockey and enjoy weight lifting. People who have viewed me only in this capacity, after having taken a class with me, often have the nerve to express their surprise that I can make intelligent comments in class. My status as a hockey player and musclehead overwrites many other aspects of my personality, which I find extremely unfair and shallow, especially from intelligent Bowdoin students.

While Lauren advises silence in response to "the number" question, I think silence not only displays embarrassment, but also gives the questioner undue license to think your number is much higher (or lower) than it actually is. Good thing I'm here to propose an innovative solution to this dilemma.

You will choose a number between four and ten, and that will be your starting point. Why the four to ten range? Good question.

I have found that this range gets the most positive reactions of all the numbers I've tried. Anything below four is considered prudish. Anything over ten flirts with the manwhore/slut label, especially when you are probably 21 or under. Each year, from now until you get married, increase your number by one.

Now when confronted with that uncomfortable question, you can confidently know that while you are most likely lying, you will have slyly undercut the person attempting to judge you.

In conclusion, I feel that as long as people continue to think in stereotypes, it is more useful to be practical and innovative rather than idealistic and truthful.