The semester has barely even started and ASU already has a major problem to fix.
When "The Princeton Review" released its annual ranking of the top 351 universities on Aug. 18, I quickly scanned down to the Top Party Schools list. Sadly, our great university failed to make the Top 10 this year. This is a hard fall, since last November, ASU was ranked as the "No. 1 Party School" by "Playboy" magazine.
The dramatic drop in rank should shock everyone. ASU's fall in party-hard status is even more shocking than the amazing Chandler Little League team losing to a bunch of scrubs from Florida. After all, Florida can't even get its election system right. How can a great kiddie baseball team from a great state like Arizona lose to them? Likewise, how could a classic party school like ASU not remain the best party school on every list?
Since Michael Crow took over as president, he has taken steps to shed the party school image that ASU has held in the past. And I respect Crow for wanting ASU to be taken seriously as the great institution of learning that it is.
However, there is no reason why our beloved University has to be knocked off the party list, only to be left looking like a bunch of early-to-bed smarty-pants. Instead of just making ASU a prime center for learning and research, we should strive to be the smartest school...that still knows how to throw a wicked party.
Here's what we gotta do: Always be on the lookout for a party. For instance, if you are stuck in a line waiting for gas, call your friend and tell them to get a DJ and a couple of kegs out there as fast as they can. Of course, you'll have to call a cab to get home, but if that's what it takes to get back to the top, then deal with it.
A lot of athletes have to work out 20 times a day, eating only steamed cabbage and broccoli, to make the team. And they get it taken care of, don't they? So if you are ever in a situation where you don't think you can possibly party any harder, just remember these athletes and say to yourself, "I am Kobe Bryant."
Along those lines, don't be a slacker who parties but never goes to class. As far as the academics go, President Crow and the administration will still be in charge of making ASU a top institution of higher education. But that doesn't mean we students don't have to hold up our end of the deal.
This is your school, so have some pride in it. Otherwise, you are just standing in the way of the dream. If that is your game, then maybe you might want to get off at the next stop, because this train doesn't carry that kind of cargo.
However, if you are going to party all the time and get A's in every single class, well, that's another story. That is the kind of student who will make this whole process smoother, and the kind of student who you should strive to be.
And if you ever hear someone talking trash about our school as a learning environment, take it as an insult; being an amazing academic institution is a lot of work. We have a lot of great programs and good rankings. Also, the business and engineering colleges each received $50 million donations in the past year, which will definitely help out. So what if they had to name the schools after a couple of guys with names like Ira and W.P.? We've got the cheddar and the opportunity to build upon two programs that were already doing well for themselves.
Becoming the best party school and best place for academics may seem like a huge mountain to climb, but it is definitely possible. If students and faculty can all pull their own weight, the dream will soon become a reality, and ASU will be an even stronger force to be reckoned with for years and parties to come.
Chris Fanning is a journalism junior. Reach him at christopher.fanning@asu.edu.
