General Ohio University Discussion/Alumni Events Topic
Topic: Times Have Changed
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rpbobcat
8/4/2015 7:25 AM
The Princeton Review released their list of the top 10 Party Schools.

O.U. didn't make the list.
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Mark Lembright '85
8/4/2015 10:53 AM
I blame the millennials.
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Mike Johnson
8/4/2015 10:56 AM
A sure sign of the apocalypse...
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OhioStunter
8/4/2015 12:42 PM
The Top 20 is nothing to sneeze at. We still beat Miami.

From Cleveland.com:

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Ohio University and Miami University remain among the nation's top 20 party schools ranked by Princeton Review, though not as high on the list as in past years.

OU, which ranked first on the list in 2011, has moved down each year since and is now 16th. Miami, which was 9th in 2013, is 19th, dropping eight spots from last year.

Princeton Review asked 136,000 students at the top 380 colleges to rate their schools on 62 categories, including party schools, academics, quality of life and extracurriculars.

Following are the Ohio colleges on the list of 380 in the Princeton guide and categories in which they were named.

Case Western Reserve University: Colleges That Pay You Back, Green Colleges, Least Beautiful Campus, Private Schools.

College of Wooster: Best College Radio Station, Colleges That Pay You Back, Green Colleges, Private Schools, Town-Gown Relations are Strained.

Denison University: Colleges That Pay You Back, Green Colleges, Private Schools.

Kenyon College: Best Athletic Facilities, Best College Theater, Colleges That Pay You Back, Green Colleges, Least Religious Students, Private Schools.

Miami University: 2015 Top Entrepreneurial Programs: Undergraduate, Colleges That Pay You Back, Green Colleges, Little Race/Class Interaction, Lots of Greek Life, Party Schools, Public Schools.

Oberlin College: Best College Theater, Birkenstock-Wearing, Tree-Hugging, Clove-Smoking Vegetarians, Colleges That Pay You Back, Green Colleges, LGBTQ-Friendly, Private Schools, Top 50 Green Colleges.

Ohio State University: Best Alumni Network, Best Athletic Facilities, Colleges That Pay You Back, Green Colleges, Public Schools, Students Pack the Stadiums.

Ohio University: Best Athletic Facilities, Green Colleges, Lots of Beer, Lots of Hard Liquor, Most Beautiful Campus, Party Schools.

Ohio Northern University: Election? What Election?, Is It Food?, Most Conservative Students.

Ohio Wesleyan University: Is That a Dorm?

University of Cincinnati: Green Colleges.

University of Dayton: 2015 Top Entrepreneurial Programs: Undergraduate, Best Campus Food, Best Career Services, Best College Dorms, Best Quality of Life, Colleges That Pay You Back, Everyone Plays Intramural Sports, Green Colleges, Happiest Students, Lots of Beer, Private Schools, Students Most Engaged in Community Service, Their Students Love These Colleges, Top Internship Opportunities.

Wittenberg University: College City Gets Low Marks, Green Colleges.

Xavier University: Green Colleges.

"Our 62 ranking lists provide students with a way to see the types of colleges that could help them achieve their future goals and dreams," Robert Franek, Princeton Review's senior vice president/publisher, said in a statement. "Every college in our book has outstanding academics. While our purpose is not to crown one college academically 'best' overall or to rank the schools 1 to 380 on any single topic, our lists provide direct student feedback on the schools' campus culture, program offerings and cost. Our goal is to help applicants choose and get into their dream college-the college best for them."
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The Optimist
8/4/2015 2:41 PM
16th is not good enough for an elite program like this.

Anything less than a national championship is a disappointment.
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BuddyLee
8/5/2015 6:25 PM
Good, I've never been a fan of this list.
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BillyTheCat
8/5/2015 10:09 PM
BuddyLee wrote:expand_more
Good, I've never been a fan of this list.

+1
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Recovering Journalist
8/6/2015 8:46 AM
BuddyLee wrote:expand_more
Good, I've never been a fan of this list.
Yup. The farther I get from my undergraduate years, the more annoying the party school image gets. Not that I ever enjoyed hearing, "Party school, eh!" from hiring recruiters and work colleagues. I like that we know how to have fun, but I don't like that it's all that many people know about us.
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MedinaCat
8/6/2015 10:58 AM
Recovering Journalist wrote:expand_more
Good, I've never been a fan of this list.
Yup. The farther I get from my undergraduate years, the more annoying the party school image gets. Not that I ever enjoyed hearing, "Party school, eh!" from hiring recruiters and work colleagues. I like that we know how to have fun, but I don't like that it's all that many people know about us.
That says more about them than you or your school. I never let it bother me and I let my work speak for itself.
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OhioCatFan
8/8/2015 10:22 PM
BillyTheCat wrote:expand_more
Good, I've never been a fan of this list.

+1
+1 +1

That ranking is based on which colleges can best stuff the ballot box. It's totally unscientific. I wouldn't be surprised if in the days we were highly ranked even the cemeteries around Athens voted in the poll. ;-)
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Alan Swank
8/9/2015 10:14 PM
Was in Kent today and drove through the town and campus. Striking differences between the two. We are a bar town with a college and they are a college with some bars and restaurants. Within one square half mile we have 20 bars 6 of which could claim restaurant status hence the party school image.
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DelBobcat
8/11/2015 10:33 AM
Alan Swank wrote:expand_more
Was in Kent today and drove through the town and campus. Striking differences between the two. We are a bar town with a college and they are a college with some bars and restaurants. Within one square half mile we have 20 bars 6 of which could claim restaurant status hence the party school image.
Yet I wouldn't trade our reputation, location, or quality of education with Kent. Akron has a similar lack of nightlife, I wouldn't want to be them either. The party school list includes the likes of Colgate, Bucknell, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Tulane. Not the worst group to be in.
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OhioCatFan
8/14/2015 10:25 PM
"A bar town with a college"? Come on, Alan, you can do better than that. The college existed way before the first bar. I don't dispute that we have more bars than Kent, but I don't think your description is accurate at all.
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The Optimist
8/15/2015 8:49 AM
DelBobcat wrote:expand_more
Was in Kent today and drove through the town and campus. Striking differences between the two. We are a bar town with a college and they are a college with some bars and restaurants. Within one square half mile we have 20 bars 6 of which could claim restaurant status hence the party school image.
Yet I wouldn't trade our reputation, location, or quality of education with Kent. Akron has a similar lack of nightlife, I wouldn't want to be them either. The party school list includes the likes of Colgate, Bucknell, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Tulane. Not the worst group to be in.

+1
I'd much rather be associated with our "peer schools" on the party school list than be listed alongside Kent and Akron.

If you let the party school reputation hurt the value of your degree from Ohio, that is on you. If you're skilled, you can swing it in your advantage.
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Alan Swank
8/15/2015 10:19 AM
OhioCatFan wrote:expand_more
"A bar town with a college"? Come on, Alan, you can do better than that. The college existed way before the first bar. I don't dispute that we have more bars than Kent, but I don't think your description is accurate at all.
All I was saying OCF is that it's easy to see why OU continues to have a party school image (in addition to Halloween of course) because of the number and concentration of bars in a very small area. Kent may very well have as many places to drink but because it's more spread out, it's not the first impression that you get. I'm not saying that this is more desirable or that I want to go to school there, I was merely making a casual observation after driving through there the other day.
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Deciduous Forest Cat
8/15/2015 11:41 AM
Alan Swank wrote:expand_more
"A bar town with a college"? Come on, Alan, you can do better than that. The college existed way before the first bar. I don't dispute that we have more bars than Kent, but I don't think your description is accurate at all.
All I was saying OCF is that it's easy to see why OU continues to have a party school image (in addition to Halloween of course) because of the number and concentration of bars in a very small area. Kent may very well have as many places to drink but because it's more spread out, it's not the first impression that you get. I'm not saying that this is more desirable or that I want to go to school there, I was merely making a casual observation after driving through there the other day.
I hope you have a Loud beeper for when you back up that fast. "Bar town with a college" isn't a casual observation;that was a thinly veiled cheap shot at Athens and Ohio.

The fact is that the good ole USA has an enormous drinking and bar culture. For better or worse. It sure as hell isn't unique to Athens or The Ohio University. I still maintain that anyone who thinks Ohio drinks more than osu or Miami or bg or Kent falls somewhere between naive and too stupid to breathe.
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Alan Swank
8/15/2015 12:03 PM
Deciduous Forest Cat wrote:expand_more
"A bar town with a college"? Come on, Alan, you can do better than that. The college existed way before the first bar. I don't dispute that we have more bars than Kent, but I don't think your description is accurate at all.
All I was saying OCF is that it's easy to see why OU continues to have a party school image (in addition to Halloween of course) because of the number and concentration of bars in a very small area. Kent may very well have as many places to drink but because it's more spread out, it's not the first impression that you get. I'm not saying that this is more desirable or that I want to go to school there, I was merely making a casual observation after driving through there the other day.
I hope you have a Loud beeper for when you back up that fast. "Bar town with a college" isn't a casual observation;that was a thinly veiled cheap shot at Athens and Ohio.

The fact is that the good ole USA has an enormous drinking and bar culture. For better or worse. It sure as hell isn't unique to Athens or The Ohio University. I still maintain that anyone who thinks Ohio drinks more than osu or Miami or bg or Kent falls somewhere between naive and too stupid to breathe.
Sorry DCF, it was far from a "cheap shot" at the town that I've chosen to call home, the town I've raised my two kids in, the town that my three grand children now live in and the town in which I will choose to retire (even without that 18 hole golf course). For those of us who live here year round as opposed to those who just come back to party (there are plenty of those - just read the posts on this board about people who can't wait to get back to tip a few or many), we are beginning to see some very positive an encouraging changes. New retail businesses are opening uptown (4 as I type this), our new mayor-to-be is committed to cleaning up the physical appearance of the town, we are getting some sort of new city pool, the bike path has been redone and continues to expand in length - I could go on and on. For now though to the casual observer or infrequent visitor, the impression is that we have a ton of bars.
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TWT
8/15/2015 8:22 PM
What's standing in the way of progress uptown is city council thinks every building in uptown Athens has historical significance. Take the armory for example. That is prime real estate for the city that could be turned over to developers that could repurpose it to generate tax for the city. A Trader Joe's with organic food and imports I bet would be a big hit since there is nothing like it in Southeast Ohio. Instead the city is spending money trying to patch it with the idea of some grand civic use. Its not that great of a building. The city is also blocking a move to tear down a vacant building behind BW3s. Its stupid because if that building wasn't there it a traffic circle could be put in or at least a turn lane.
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TWT
8/15/2015 8:49 PM
Alan Swank wrote:expand_more
Was in Kent today and drove through the town and campus. Striking differences between the two. We are a bar town with a college and they are a college with some bars and restaurants. Within one square half mile we have 20 bars 6 of which could claim restaurant status hence the party school image.
A lot of the bars uptown in Athens are tiny. Tony's, Pawpurr's, The Pub, Lucky's all combine to have the capacity of BW3's. What happens when one of these bars closes doors is the liquor licence ends up in the hands of an entrepreneur that decides to redesign a larger vacant space in uptown Athens into a bar. Broney's was an auto body shop that was converted into a bar. BW3's was the location of a fine dining restaurant before they got in there. Ohooley's and the Pigskin expanded. Athens has become a sports town full of sports bars.
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OhioCatFan
8/15/2015 10:09 PM
Uncle Wes wrote:expand_more
What's standing in the way of progress uptown is city council thinks every building in uptown Athens has historical significance. Take the armory for example. That is prime real estate for the city that could be turned over to developers that could repurpose it to generate tax for the city. A Trader Joe's with organic food and imports I bet would be a big hit since there is nothing like it in Southeast Ohio. Instead the city is spending money trying to patch it with the idea of some grand civic use. Its not that great of a building. The city is also blocking a move to tear down a vacant building behind BW3s. Its stupid because if that building wasn't there it a traffic circle could be put in or at least a turn lane.
While the City Council has say over the Armory, they have no say over what happens to old Morton Hall behind BW3. The historical society considered opposing tearing down old Morton (not to be confused with new Morton) but decided to hold its fire for protecting Hanning Hall, the old Athens Post Office. There have been rumors for years that it was on the chopping block. Unlike the Armory and old Morton, there is considerable historical significance to Hanning, which was built through a special appropriation by Congress upon the retirement of Rep. Charles H. Grosvenor. It was very lavish, as you'd expect from what in a later era would have been called an "earmark." As a kid I remember the marble floors and walls and the bronze chandeliers. It does need a little TLC and cleanup but it is still in excellent structural shape. It would make a nice museum, and more accessible than the one now on The Ridges to the average student. FYI: Before the Armory there was a livery on that site. I've seen photos of the livery from the 1890 period.
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Alan Swank
8/16/2015 7:25 AM
Uncle Wes wrote:expand_more
Was in Kent today and drove through the town and campus. Striking differences between the two. We are a bar town with a college and they are a college with some bars and restaurants. Within one square half mile we have 20 bars 6 of which could claim restaurant status hence the party school image.
A lot of the bars uptown in Athens are tiny. Tony's, Pawpurr's, The Pub, Lucky's all combine to have the capacity of BW3's. What happens when one of these bars closes doors is the liquor licence ends up in the hands of an entrepreneur that decides to redesign a larger vacant space in uptown Athens into a bar. Broney's was an auto body shop that was converted into a bar. BW3's was the location of a fine dining restaurant before they got in there. Ohooley's and the Pigskin expanded. Athens has become a sports town full of sports bars.
At the present time, there are no vacant privately owned buildings uptown. In terms of development, I'd like to see the block of Union St. from Congress to Court turned into a quasi pedestrian "mall" with one row of parking on the south side, one lane of traffic east bound (as is currently the case), and the rest dedicated to a combination pedestrian mall/outdoor dining area. I'd construct it in such a way that if it didn't work, it would be easy to turn it back into a street with parking on both sides and two lanes of traffic. Of course the folks at Jackie O's and the Union would have to buy into the outdoor dining area but I'd be surprised if they couldn't see the economic benefits of that.

As for Trader Joes, there are two problems there - a lack of parking and a lack of volume. EarthFare, another organic smaller supermarket, has looked at Athens but it's just too small and May - August are too slow.
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TWT
8/17/2015 12:40 AM
OhioCatFan wrote:expand_more
What's standing in the way of progress uptown is city council thinks every building in uptown Athens has historical significance. Take the armory for example. That is prime real estate for the city that could be turned over to developers that could repurpose it to generate tax for the city. A Trader Joe's with organic food and imports I bet would be a big hit since there is nothing like it in Southeast Ohio. Instead the city is spending money trying to patch it with the idea of some grand civic use. Its not that great of a building. The city is also blocking a move to tear down a vacant building behind BW3s. Its stupid because if that building wasn't there it a traffic circle could be put in or at least a turn lane.
While the City Council has say over the Armory, they have no say over what happens to old Morton Hall behind BW3. The historical society considered opposing tearing down old Morton (not to be confused with new Morton) but decided to hold its fire for protecting Hanning Hall, the old Athens Post Office. There have been rumors for years that it was on the chopping block. Unlike the Armory and old Morton, there is considerable historical significance to Hanning, which was built through a special appropriation by Congress upon the retirement of Rep. Charles H. Grosvenor. It was very lavish, as you'd expect from what in a later era would have been called an "earmark." As a kid I remember the marble floors and walls and the bronze chandeliers. It does need a little TLC and cleanup but it is still in excellent structural shape. It would make a nice museum, and more accessible than the one now on The Ridges to the average student. FYI: Before the Armory there was a livery on that site. I've seen photos of the livery from the 1890 period.
OCF thanks for the info on Old Morton and Hanning Hall. Hanning Hall is in much better structural shape than the armory. I too have thought it might be a good spot for something in the arts. If they kept Hanning Hall and tore down the Research and Technology building turning that area into a sculpture garden that would make a nice addition to the city. Hanning Hall wouldn't replace the Kennedy Center rather it could serve as an annex of the Kennedy Center with a couple of traveling exhibitions. Space is limited in the Kennedy Center as its configured. I don't know how it could be done but if space was set up for local artists to sell their art work on Sundays that would draw people in. I doubt the University would allow it on their grounds.
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TWT
8/17/2015 1:02 AM
Alan Swank wrote:expand_more
Was in Kent today and drove through the town and campus. Striking differences between the two. We are a bar town with a college and they are a college with some bars and restaurants. Within one square half mile we have 20 bars 6 of which could claim restaurant status hence the party school image.
A lot of the bars uptown in Athens are tiny. Tony's, Pawpurr's, The Pub, Lucky's all combine to have the capacity of BW3's. What happens when one of these bars closes doors is the liquor licence ends up in the hands of an entrepreneur that decides to redesign a larger vacant space in uptown Athens into a bar. Broney's was an auto body shop that was converted into a bar. BW3's was the location of a fine dining restaurant before they got in there. Ohooley's and the Pigskin expanded. Athens has become a sports town full of sports bars.
At the present time, there are no vacant privately owned buildings uptown. In terms of development, I'd like to see the block of Union St. from Congress to Court turned into a quasi pedestrian "mall" with one row of parking on the south side, one lane of traffic east bound (as is currently the case), and the rest dedicated to a combination pedestrian mall/outdoor dining area. I'd construct it in such a way that if it didn't work, it would be easy to turn it back into a street with parking on both sides and two lanes of traffic. Of course the folks at Jackie O's and the Union would have to buy into the outdoor dining area but I'd be surprised if they couldn't see the economic benefits of that.

As for Trader Joes, there are two problems there - a lack of parking and a lack of volume. EarthFare, another organic smaller supermarket, has looked at Athens but it's just too small and May - August are too slow.
Alan the pedestrian mall for Union St is a great idea. It could also be used as a public space to sell art on Sundays. Adds sophistication to Union St. Where was the proposed location for EarthFare? I disagree that Athens is too small for an organic supermarket with Athens having a Wal Mart. It might need to be out in East State St. to maximize visibility.
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