LSU unable to avoid top ranking as party school

BATON ROUGE, La. - Louisiana State University officials desperately tried to avoid the list, but the school couldn't dodge being named the No. 1 party college in America.

The designation by The Princeton Review was disheartening news to university officials still shaken by the August 1997 death of an LSU student who celebrated his acceptance into a fraternity with a night of excessive drinking.

"I think the whole survey, from my point of view, would be very laughable if it didn't misinform people about the university's environment," Mark Emmert, chancellor of the school, said yesterday. "LSU is no more of a party school than any other American university."

Florida State University, which topped last year's list, fell to fourth this time.

The Princeton Review, which isn't affiliated with Princeton University, ranks schools based on a survey of 59,000 college students across the country.

------------------------------------------------------

Top 20 party schools

1. Louisiana State University

2. University of Alabama

3. University of Texas

4. Florida State University

5. University of Colorado

6. University of Tennessee

7. University of California, Santa Cruz

8. Tulane University

9. University of Wisconsin

10. Ohio University, Athens

11. University of New Hampshire

12. University of Michigan

13. University of Vermont

14. Ohio State University

15. New York University

16. Lehigh University

17. Southern Methodist University

18. University of Florida

19. University of California, Santa Barbara

20. Union College (Schenectady, N.Y.)

- The Associated Press