Many Post columnists begin their first columns by explaining to the readers what to expect from them for the next 10 weeks. I think there is something more important for me to discuss in the first of my 10 installments.
During winter break, I spent my time working, reading, visiting with my family and showing my friends from Ohio State what it means to go to the nation's No. 2 party school, according to The Princeton Review.
Other than Grandma's questioning of what the word crunk means, I almost forgot about a Between the Lines I wrote during Fall Quarter, urging my fellow students to do what they could to make us the No. 1 party school.
But it wasn't long after Grandma drove home before I heard that just because the students left Athens for break doesn't mean the partying stopped.
While many of us had returned to our parents' houses to work off our debt from student loans and beer runs, football coach Frank Solich was in Athens, continuing the party.
I would like to thank Solich, President Roderick McDavis and Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt for responding to my request to become the No. 1 party school, though I never expected a response this extreme.
Solich, McDavis and Hocutt jumped on the party school bandwagon at the end of November. According to a Nov. 29, 2005, Post article, Solich was found slumped over the steering wheel of his car, which was facing the wrong way on a one-way street.
He had trouble opening the car door when police arrived and refused a Breathalyzer test. His license was suspended for 180 days, and he was fined $250 and sentenced to a three-day driver intervention program.
But despite Solich's legal problem, this university would not give up on him.
And kudos to them for that decision. Nothing says party school like a president and athletic director who decide to retain a coach who breaks the law - especially a law involving alcohol when the first-year students at the party school must complete an alcohol education requirement before starting classes in September.
The State Highway Patrol did, however, decide to stop using posters on which Solich promotes safe driving, according to a Jan. 4 article on ESPN.com.
I suppose if the first-year football coach can't yet give us a winning season and consistent national exposure, the next best thing he could have done was improve our party school reputation. And what better way to show the country we are a party school than to have one of OU's highest-paid employees publicly embarrass the university (and himself) by reaffirming the image of OU students around the nation.
But it doesn't stop there. Even OU's president, who has repeatedly pleaded with students to drink responsibly, told Solich that it's OK and he can keep his job, as long as pays his fine and acknowledges his mistake.
I wonder if McDavis will begin extending that type of amnesty to students who just smoke pot, just drink underage or just plagiarize. I mean, we don't really pay thousands of dollars in tuition to learn and obtain a respectable degree, do we?
Solich's response to my impassioned plea might have been a little too extreme, but it got the message across to Athens outsiders. OU students don't pay for college; we pay the four-year cover charge - plus the cost of drinks.
Even though Solich didn't bring the Bobcats a winning season during his first year, he showed us his ability to party just like all of us. Although, I suppose getting caught facing the wrong way on a one-way street was not part of his plan.
Everyone should give thanks to Solich, McDavis and Hocutt for reminding the world that OU is a party school and not some stuffy institution overly concerned with minor things like respect.
Some students have shown support by joining Facebook groups such as: -
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