CU A BIT DAZED BY LATEST BUZZ

Magazine ranks school in top 10 for pot smokers

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - BOULDER - It isn't always good to be in the top
10.

At least that's what some students and staff at the University of Colorado
at Boulder are saying about the university's seventh-place ranking on a list
of best schools for marijuana smokers.

The rankings were compiled by High Times, a magazine dedicated to marijuana
and its "counterculture."

While parents may turn to the Princeton Review rankings before picking up
the latest issue of High Times, CU students are taking an interest in the
ranking. Some took insult while others couldn't stifle proud smiles.

"Some people might not like it but it's a point of pride for me," said Luke
Kroiss, a first-year biochemistry grad student.

"The fact is that a lot of the students here are 'herb friendly."'

High Times wrote that "intelligent cannabis users" likely would enjoy the
school's scenic views and active student government. The magazine added that
the school's top-notch space observatory and planetarium should be enough to
hold the attention of smokers looking for entertainment.

Those students who frowned upon the ranking worried that it might conjure up
a vision of a campus covered with a thick cloud of illicit smoke.

"It's a bad image thing," said Sarah Shea, a junior studying anthropology
and history. "Anything that detracts from the academics of the school is
belittling."

Though the magazine editors may have had good intentions, they could lead
young students in a wrong direction, said Ryan Brand, a senior majoring in
international affairs.

"It misdirects some freshmen into thinking that the partying and smoking is
what they're supposed to do when they get here," Brand said.

School officials said they don't consider the rankings meaningful.

"There are a number of these pseudo-scientific polls," said CU spokeswoman
Pauline Hale. "There's no way to tell how realistic their findings are."

There are, in fact, dozens of rankings, and CU appears on a number of lists
that would cause most parents to wince. The Princeton Review ranked the
school as one of the top universities for marijuana use, partying and
consumption of hard liquor.

The school also got high rankings from the Princeton Review and U.S. News
and World Report for its academic programs.

While university officials may not take the ranking seriously, the editor of
High Times said the magazine certainly did.

Steven Hagar said the magazine took several months to come up with the
rankings, and its primary criterion was the quality of the education offered
by the schools.

This isn't a list of schools for people who want to spend their days in a
purple haze, Hagar said. Instead, the schools are campuses where students
who do smoke marijuana can get a good education and are likely to enjoy the
surroundings and community.

"I don't think it really bothers the school administration," Julia German
said while tossing a Frisbee to friends. "They want to bring in students,
and this probably draws more students than it sends away."

(SIDEBAR)

Top 10 Counterculture Colleges

1. Evergreen State College, Olympia, Wash.

2. New College, Sarasota, Fla.

3. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

4. University of Wisconsin, Madison

5. Florida State University, Tallahassee

6. Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio

7. University of Colorado-Boulder

8. Humboldt State University, Arcata, Calif.

9. Bennington College, Bennington, Vt.

10. Wesleyan University, Middleton, Conn.

- - Source: High Times magazine, October issue