#1 Party School: PSU

For this blog entry we had to listen to a broadcast entitled #1 Party School and give our reaction to it. This interactive broadcast puts the listener in the shoes of a person on an average night in one of the biggest party schools in the nation, Penn State University. Penn State year in and year out is always at the top of the list of the biggest party schools in the nation. In 2008 according to the Princeton Review we were not just one of the biggest party schools, we were the number one party school of every single college in the entire United States. The purpose of this broadcast was to investigate the meaning of this title and the exact reasons why we have captured it. The five minutes or so of the broadcast is a conversation between two Penn State students sitting on their off-campus house porch on a friday night listening and watching the number one party school pass on by. In the span of a half hour the two students see several alcoholic involved incidents. They observe things such as a group of girls trying pee on their front lawn and guys walking around with an uprooted stop sign. Are these really the things that give is this very prestigious title. I really would hope that aspects such as a great football team or the best frat parties would have led us to optioning this title but that is not the case. In the words of Graham Spanier "You know the reason we're the number one party school?...its because the students vote on it...its not like someone came in and did an assessment." Many people, especially students, I don't think would view Penn State being the number one party school as an issue. I believe that much of Penn State's prosperity has to do with having the reputation of being one of the most fun schools to go to in the country. There are several aspects that go into the Princeton Review's decision of what college is the number one party school. 120,000 students across the country are asked three simple questions. How big is the influence of beer,liquor, marijuana and other drugs at your university? How big is frat life at your University? How much do you study on an average day? Since I'm only a freshman I am still only beginning to understand to what extent Penn State compares to other colleges for each one of these questions. The two people who made this broadcast do a very good job at getting sounds bites of a wide range of people at Penn State. They tend to focus in on the people who are representing PSU at the biggest party school in the nation. They interview several intoxicating students who speak freely about how they feel about Penn State and if they think we deserve to be considered the number one party school. Although the student body takes pride in this title I think that the school in general has tried to crack down on what makes us one of the most fun colleges in the world. I have spoken to many upperclassman about this topic and they have told me that in just two short years Penn State is not what it once was. There is now less hazing in fraternities, the police has become stricter on the student body and we are even beginning to study on a daily basis. I hope that in the coming years we retake our spot on top of the list of the top party schools in the country but sadly I don't think that day will come.