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General Ohio University Discussion/Alumni Events Topic
Topic: The annual, obligatory party school thread.
Page: 1 of 1
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MedinaCat
8/2/2010 2:51 PM
Looks like we are #2.  And how's that for branding, NewsNet5 has the Attack Cat properly displayed.

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/education/ohio-u.-gets-n...
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The Optimist
8/2/2010 7:44 PM
MedinaCat still hungover...  

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/education/ohio-u.-gets-number-2-ranking-for-party-schools
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Bobcatbob
8/3/2010 10:28 AM
Hit The Tuesday Dispatch on page 2.

At 8:05 AM Tuesday, I received the first personal mention from someone who knows nothing of my OU connections. 

It does get us attention.
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Joe McKinley
8/3/2010 8:59 PM
Nobody's said anything to me about it and many know of my affinity for my alma mater. I expected to hear from someone about it, but nothing yet. 

Over the weekend, however, I was approached by multiple people at the North Market and Clintonville Farmers Market in Columbus who saw me wearing a MAC basketball tourney champs t-shirt. I was a little surprised since it has been 4+ months. Success is noticed.
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Ohio69
8/4/2010 4:29 PM
This just isn't a sexy story anymore.  Especially when most Americans age 17-30 are consistently drunk weekend to weekend.
Last Edited: 8/4/2010 4:30:12 PM by Ohio69
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Bobcat Love
8/7/2010 6:55 PM
I said it on Bobcat Attack v 1.0, and I'll say it on v 2.0...Don't run from it - embrace it.
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shabamon
8/8/2010 11:21 AM
Looks like they're going with running. This was forwarded to me earlier in the week.





Dear Parents and Families,

Yesterday, the Princeton Review released its annual 'party school' rankings list.  Sadly, this year OHIO found the #2 spot, up from #5 for the past two years.  I write today to share a couple of points with you about our efforts on campus to minimize high-risk behavior.

The first thing to note is that this ranking is arbitrary and completely unscientific.  The information is obtained anonymously from students via an electronic survey.  The survey is sent to over 122,000 students across the country, but according to Princeton Review, each campus is likely to have as few as 300 respondents.  In our case, that equates to less than 1.5% of our student population.  In short, this sentiment does not represent the majority of Ohio University student opinions or the reality of the Ohio University experience.

In a release from the Princeton Review, you can see details about how they arrive at the rankings they have publicized:

http://www.princetonreview.com/college/college-rankings.aspx

Though Ohio University has received notoriety from some large, off-campus street-festivals, we have been working closely with the City of Athens to minimize the dangerous behavior that can occur at them.  We hold students accountable for their behavior both on and off campus.

Unfortunately, there are a number of students each year who have to discontinue their OHIO careers as a result of choices they have made regarding their use of alcohol.  It is also important to note that nearly half of all the arrests that take place at these street festivals are students from other universities who come to Athens to visit and partake in this behavior.

Additionally, the Princeton Review ranking can overshadow the many efforts we have undertaken on campus to educate students about the dangers of high-risk behavior.  Several of these initiatives are listed below.
  • Since 2005, we require a mandatory alcohol education program (AlcoholEdu) for all incoming new students.  
  • We provide peer-to-peer education through Greek Life organizations, Learning Communities, first-year seminars, and in the residence halls.
  • We continue to be involved in a social media campaign entitled "Stop at the Buzz," which focuses on harm reduction and education.
  • We have implemented a strict two-strike alcohol policy for those who use alcohol in an illegal or irresponsible manner. This includes parental notification for those under the age of 21.
  • We conduct an Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) survey every two years to gain information about high-risk behaviors of our students.

As a result of these initiatives, I'm pleased to report that we have seen significant positive progress in the behavior of our students, including:
  • A 60% decrease in the number of alcohol-related judicial violations
  • A 25% decrease in the number of first-year students who report high-risk drinking behaviors
  • A 5% decrease in the number of overall students who report high-risk drinking behavior

While we still have much work to do on this front, we have made significant progress in changing the culture at Ohio University. Though the Princeton Review rankings do not reflect these strides, we will continue to work diligently toward affecting positive change on our campus.

I appreciate your continued support of our efforts, and our collective role in helping to promote an excellent experience for all Ohio University students.
 
Sincerely,
Ohio
 
Ryan Lombardi
Dean of Students
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Tim Burke
8/8/2010 12:21 PM
I see a lot of rage by the conservative-minded Ohio community about this, completely ignoring that the other schools in our party cohort are ones we would embrace being associated with otherwise.

Obviously a party image doesn't hurt Florida, Texas, Georgia, Penn State, Iowa, et al. Why should we be concerned about it? WE SHOULD EMBRACE IT. 
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cc-cat
8/13/2010 9:31 AM

That’s obligatory, not running from it.  Different messages for different markets.  High school juniors and seniors see the rankings - they play it up.

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Alan Swank
8/15/2010 5:01 PM
What cracks me up is the hypocrisy in using this same magazine to play up something that is "positive."  You can't have it both ways - either the magazine is a good source for information or a hack job.

From an article on the front page of the OU website:

http://www.ohio.edu/compass/stories/09-10/8/Princeton-rev...
Last Edited: 8/15/2010 5:03:07 PM by Alan Swank
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Bobcatbob
8/16/2010 10:18 AM
C'mon, Al.  This is a message board.  There's no place for even handed observations here!
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MFRONE
8/17/2010 3:52 PM
When I was at Ohio (01-05) I remember these rankings came out and listed Miami University as the #2 school in the nation to support their athletic teams...at that point I stopped even looking at any of them (good or bad) anymore.
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Doc Bobcat
8/17/2010 10:36 PM
Bobcat Love wrote:expand_more
I said it on Bobcat Attack v 1.0, and I'll say it on v 2.0...Don't run from it - embrace it.



Gotta go with the Love on this one.
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Bobcat321
8/23/2010 6:31 PM
On the Chicago Tribune website they used a pic of the 110 to rep Ohio in their slideshow list of best party schools.

www.chicagotribune.com/features/sns-viral-us-party-schools-list-pictures,0,3763734.photogallery
Last Edited: 8/23/2010 6:32:55 PM by Bobcat321
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Alan Swank
8/24/2010 8:02 PM
Can you imagine the howling from Cutler Hall had our picture been like picture number 10, the one from Florida State.
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DelBobcat
9/1/2010 8:14 PM
As I start grad school two of the first people I have met who are also here at UDel pursuing advanced degrees (one a PhD in English and one an MA in Economics) graduated from Wisconsin and Penn State respectively. Throw in my OHIO education and it looks like the party schools are dominating my small (and very unscientific) sample of those pursuing advanced degrees. So there!
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