Chico State’s entry on the party school list. This is a simulation of my surfing a potentially “Not Safe For Work” site while at work.
I was interested to see the new list of top 10 party schools from Playboy magazine, especially how Chico State would measure up. Chico State was first and second on the first two lists, but disappeared from the third list in 2006.
As I reported in today’s Enterprise-Record, Chico State didn’t make the top 10, but managed to eke its way on to an expanded list of 25 campuses at number 20. The whole thing is fascinating, especially Playboy’s description of Chico’s “scene.”
I was pleasantly surprised to see Chico on the extended list. While the list could either be a badge of honor or mark of shame, I was just glad to see CSUC on the list after it was absent three years ago.
I almost missed it just looking at the top 10. I was interested in learning more about the list so I dug a little deeper on Playboy’s Web sites … while at work.
I was worried there would be images of naked ladies on the screen jeopardizing my professionalism and potentially my career. I shrunk the size of my Web browser window so I could navigate past any … obstacles. Thankfully, the specific pages the magazine referred to were devoid of nudity and I was able to quickly find the information.
So, until Playboy ranks the schools again next year, Chico State will be nestled between Michigan State University, a prominent Big 10 school, and Hampshire College, a school I had to Google to learn more about.
The magazine’s description of Chico State seemed a little off, at least in my eye. Here’s what they wrote:
Legendary party scene despite the fact that the student body is not made up of stereotypical meat-head party boys and Stepford sorority girls. Think greenand not the stoner green, the environmental awareness green.
While many Chico State students have helped promote increased awareness of environmental sustainability, I reckon it’s a stretch to say the campus is devoid of “party boys” and “Stepford sorority girls.” Just walking around Chico’s downtown core on a Friday or Saturday will uncover a decent number from both groups of people and environmentalists too.
I couldn’t comment on the specific ratio of party boys to green sceners, but Playboy might. They developed a matrix of five categories (including a “bikini” composite category that looked at factors such as boy-girl ratio, the weather, etc.). It rated the schools in each of them and combined that information with input from students and others.
Having Playboy use algorithms to pick the top party school reminded me of the system the BCS uses to find the top football team in the country. I wonder if Playboy’s system is more worthwhile than the heavily criticized BCS.
