IU floats to the top for 'Lots of Beer,' No. 6 party school by Princeton Review

Beer pong on pool tables. Keg stands in kitchens. Sink the Biz at Nick's. Porches lined with empty beer bottles. Evidence that IU students have a particular affinity to the brew is everywhere. And now it seems that the Princeton Review has taken note.\nThe Review ranked IU as the No. 1 school for "Lots of Beer" and the No. 6 party school overall in its now-famous 2006 edition of "The Best 361 Colleges." Last year, IU came in 15th for parties and 5th for beer.\nBut IU administrators are characteristically skeptical of the rankings -- as they were in 2002 when the Princeton Review rated IU the top party school in the nation. \n"I don't view it as a valid kind of poll," said Richard McKaig, dean of students. "We acknowledge that it's not a significant or statistical poll."\nBut Robert Franek, the book's author, couldn't disagree more with McKaig's assessment of the list.\n"The 110,000 student responses that I got back this year are valid and substantive because they came directly from students," he said.\nThe Princeton Review got permission from IU to publicize the survey, which students could then fill out online, he said. Franek said he did not have information on hand for how the survey was specifically marketed to students at IU, which person in the University he worked with or how many students at IU were surveyed.\nThe base for the beer ranking was students' response to a single question: At your school, how widely used is beer? The question had five possible answers, varying from "extremely" to "not at all."\nIU was ranked first for beer because students reported that beer was used more on the Bloomington campus than on any other.\nDespite making the list of the top 20 party schools in the country for many years running, McKaig said he isn't worried about IU's reputation because of The Princeton Review. \n"If you're No. 1, your name is mentioned," he said. "If you're not No. 1, you probably don't get mentioned outside of your local paper."\nThough he doubts the rankings are reflective of the beer consumption or partying at IU, it does underscore that the campus has a drinking problem, said Walt Keller, alcohol programs coordinator for IU.\n"We have in excess of 8,000 to 15,000 people drunk in a small area, every weekend," he said. "That can lead to problems."\nThe Princeton Review also reported that students ranked IU ninth for "best student newspaper" and 15th for "most hard liquor." The University of Wisconsin-Madison took home the title of "biggest party school"