Hurricane Sandy is blowing through the North East causing significant damage, especially in New York and New Jersey. Flood waters have inundated subway passages. Boardwalks have been swallowed up by waves. And in State College, shelves of malt liquor have been scrounged up like emergency rations of flashlights, bread, and milk in areas that lie bel0w sea level.

All day yesterday, students hovered over @psutxt waiting for University Park to cancel classes. The decision to close UP was a juggling act between shutting down a campus notorious for making drunken mayhem in its free time and keeping students safe in light of grim weather reports on the Frankenstorm.

Before Penn State closed University Park, all eastern Commonwealth Campuses cancelled classes. Local area events were postponed, roads were scheduled for detours, surrounding school districts closed their doors, state stores stopped serving liquor after 3 p.m. — it seemed the entire state was preparing for the storm while Penn State was weighing their options.

Then at noon the message came that afternoon classes were cancelled.

UPark alert :: Classes canceled after 1:10 pm due to weather. Essential employees should report. More: live.psu.edu

— psutxt (@psutxt) October 29, 2012

Before long, bottle shops such as Sharkies, Brewsky’s and Thrifty were selling out of 40 0.z. bottles of Hurricane malt liquor. W.R. Hickey’s specifically went out of their way to ensure the longevity of their Hurricane inventory. It became clear that Penn State’s survival guide favored catching a buzz rather than boarding up windows or evacuating popular areas (other than the HUB).

School gets cancelled at noon. Liquor store PACKED at 12:30. I love our school

— Ryan DeMuth (@IceRion32) October 30, 2012

BREAKING: The Days Inn bottle shop just ran out of Hurricaine Malt liquor. I may or may not have been a factor. twitter.com/DaveColePhoto/…

— Dave Cole (@DaveColePhoto) October 29, 2012

And as the storm intensified, so did the propensity to party. However, Penn State officials had different plans for the night.

After a Monday evening that became a weekend, a message was sent out over the Penn State Twitter account to alert students that they should be prepared to have classes as scheduled for today. The decision was not well received on Twitter.

UPark alert :: Classes, activities to resume as scheduled on Tuesday. For details and updates: live.psu.edu

— psutxt (@psutxt) October 30, 2012

 

did a lot of work and smoked a lot of pot today. thanks #sandy! goodnight.

— The State Socialite (@StateSocialite) October 30, 2012

 

Penn State UPark is planning to still have classes tomorrow. getting drunk anyhow #fuckit

— Rob Bevilacqua (@mostcallmerob) October 30, 2012

 

Thanks for killing my Sandy half-chub, UPark…. -__-

— Jude Mouth (@JudyMouth) October 30, 2012

 

i wonder how penn state is going to feel if someone gets hurt or killed tomorrow, already have enough bad publicity dont ya think #pennstate

— Lucas McHale (@Lucas_McTweet) October 30, 2012

 

Come on PSU, cancel classes tomorrow, I don’t wanna wake up for my 8 a.m.

— Monica (@monica_breon) October 30, 2012

 

Idk what was worse about Sandy for kids at PSU, the fact that we drank everything we had today or that classes aren’t cancelled tomorrow…

— Ben Sweeney (@BenSween) October 30, 2012

 

im gonna injure myself on campus and then sue penn state for making us go to class during a natural disaster

— Brian Newell (@NEWIEFINN) October 30, 2012

 

I’m feeling a “skipping class to protest Penn State being dumb as shit for not canceling classes” coming on…

— Matthew Brown (@Rhapsodyinbrown) October 30, 2012

 

Basically lol #pennstateprobz twitter.com/hopedopee/stat…

— Steve Rogers (@hopedopee) October 30, 2012

 

New drinking game guys, drink every time Penn State makes an ill-advised press release and drink again when they go back on it the next day

— Not Melissa Marshall (@NotMMarshallPSU) October 30, 2012

 

I don’t want Penn State calling me about money when they don’t give a shit about my safety.

— Roman Hallows (@Bat_For_Roman) October 30, 2012

 

“Welcome to State College, where the weather is made up, and the students don’t really matter.” @coljb93

The person running Penn State’s Twitter feed clearly has read all the tweets about people getting drunk tonight.

— Dan Smith (@ThatDanSmith) October 30, 2012

 

Classes on. Signal Penn State riot. — Jesse Rushin (@jesserushin) October 30, 2012

 

Getting a text from Penn State when you’re drinking saying we will have classes tomorrow <<<<< — Caitlin Corso (@Caitlincorso) October 30, 2012

Holy shit Penn State, why did you give us off from class when it’s not that bad and then tomorrow when it’s going to be worse we have class? — Dan McGarvey (@danOmcgarvey) October 30, 2012

I’m convinced that the newest weather patterns that penn state cites are bs and they’re just trying to keep students from getting wasted — Lea LaDorna (@lealadorna) October 30, 2012

Ignore that text… Penn State is fuckin lying. They know we are all drinking anyway and are tryin to scare us. #PartyOn — PSUBoomboxGuy (@PSUBoomboxGuy) October 30, 2012

Do you think that Penn State should have cancelled classes with the impending danger of Hurricane Sandy? Or was it smart to cut off the students who mistook a safety precaution as an excuse to get drunk? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter.