Please, USN&WR, drop those college rankings before someone gets hurt

I've written before that I think the U.S. News & World Report annual rankings of colleges are worthless because they measure the wrong things. Something that arrived in my mail at home a while back strengthens that opinion.

I don't know when it arrived. It could have fallen behind some furniture and someone found it and set it out for me. It was a piece of junk mail from Ohio University, where I spent some wonderful years in the 1970s. About the only time I get mail from OU is when they want money. Here are two paragraphs from the mailing:

"Ohio University ranks among the top 50 national universities (46th) in the 2005 U.S. News & World Report's 'America's Best Colleges' edition. Ohio has its sights set even higher, but will need the help of our alumni in order to remain among the finest universities in the nation.

"Ten for the Cats asks that each alumnus gives $10. The university rankings measure the percentage of alumni participation, so your $10 gift will help increase our ranking. As always, your gift will also benefit our students and faculty every day."

My warm feelings for my years in Athens, Ohio, have nothing to do with how a news magazine ranks Ohio U against other schools.

When one of my kids asked me a while back what the best college is, I said that depends on what you want out of it. A lot of things go into choosing which college is best for you. The USN&WR rankings should be a small and truly insignificant factor.

Needless to say, Ohio U. didn't get a $10 check from me.