Just Another Thing to be #1 At

I was not looking forward to spending over an hour listening to a podcast. However, once I started listening to it I was instantly drawn in. A lot of the terminology and scenes that were described I am familiar with. The drunk buses on the weekend, frat life, and stupid things people due while under the influence are prominent in a typical weekend at Penn State. As a Penn State student I felt disappointed that others view our university as one huge party school. It makes me feel like people just look at that concept and avoid looking at all of the positive qualities of Penn State. As a college student I feel that no matter what university you go to students are going to be partying. I feel like it’s a part of college life. However, I also believe that despite the fact that many college students drink, there is a large sum of students who don’t.

            The use of pathos, ethos, and logos was very strong and displayed throughout the entire podcast. The credibility was built up by interviewing several types of people. There were interviews with drunk students, a boy that left his frat because it was interfering with his school work, the woman who has a “psychic mind” and works at the dry cleaners, and the cop. By having all of these interviews and also describing scenes, such as a football weekend in state college it sets a good atmosphere for the rest of the podcast and helps work the way up to the overall problem-how alcohol has actually killed some college students. Graham Spanier’s speech and method of attacking this problem says that the reason why Penn State is the number one party school is because the students actually do the voting. In a school as large as Penn State, of course they want that title because it is another thing they could be #1 at.  While residents of State College are annoyed with the college kids because of things like “drunk kid in the house” and public urination, others do like the kids and this is pointed out in the interview with Ray. This helps build up credibility. The interviews, especially when the pizza delivery guy was punched in the mouth and had to have his jaw wired shut, made me feel very embarrassed and got my emotions all stirred up. Toward the end of the podcast, when they are talking about Joe Dadoe and other cases of deaths, it made me feel upset and I agree that it a student’s responsibility to watch out for others and their friends. I know I would never go anywhere alone or let my roommates or friends. The dumb things people said or did in their interview (such as the guy that claimed he wanted to take advantage of the girl at a party) made me feel not only embarrassed but also scared that there are people like that in the world. There was also a plethora of statistics to back up all of this. 75% of students drink at Penn State on a weekend and the average person drinks about 4.5 drinks in about 3 hours. This is a sort of shocking statistic to me. Penn State does have a large amount of students but to stop and think that 75% are going out every weekend just seems like a bit much to me, but I do believe it. It just doesn’t seem like there’s that many people, however, clearly there is.  Another statistic I found shocking was that the sales at McLanahan’s went out 20% and stayed down for a week if the Lions lost a football game. Also, the cop’s mentioning that even as a proud alumni, he would rather see Penn State lose a game because that would make his job and life so much easier.

            I was most moved by the discussion of the people who died from alcohol, because people have mindsets that we are young and don’t really expect to die anytime soon. In one of the interviews a student claims he parties so much now and does dumb things because he’s in college. In other words, “you only do this stuff now, while you still can”. Also, I was moved by the point that in another year people won’t remember Joe or know who he was. This is sad but true. Every year is like starting over, so it hard to make progress. Also, the alumni, who donate lots of money to Penn State, expect to drink and associate it with football. The two basically go hand and hand. So if tailgating did become dry, there would be a major revolt.

            There were lots of definitions present in the podcast. First, is the definition of a “fratket” which is basically a ratty, old jacket girls don’t care about and throw on over their clothes before going to a frat. Another area of definition is defining Penn State as a party school. What makes a party school? The podcast claims an isolated area certainly helps the situation and a large number of students. The person who works at the bar at state college also says that he likes the college students because they don’t have “real problems” yet and are fun to be around. What are real problems? Perhaps divorce, children, unemployment, struggles with finances?

            All and all I felt very moved by this article. It made me see how others view the university and I felt embarrassed but also proud to be a Penn Stater at the same time. We are Penn State, and we take pride in what we do. We know this is a problem and just like any other college we know that no matter what people are going to drink. The campus is now dry and kegs are banned at frats. It’s really up to the students to act as mature adults, be responsible, and watch out for each other.  

Step inside to the Valley

              It’s a typical spring day in northeastern Pennsylvania. Spring-which seems to take forever to finally come (the groundhog should really start seeing his shadow more often) is finally here. The birds are chirping, the clouds are cotton balls, soft and fluffy, floating aimlessly through the baby blue sky. As one walks they can smell the blossoming rosebuds a mile away. The warmth of the sun is strong and exhilarating, bringing a smile to everyone’s face after the months and months of what seemed like endless snowfalls. The show shovels are finally packed away, and the line at Curly Crème ice cream is wrapped around the building. Where ice was a month ago, there now is a field of dandelions. All of the squirrels, birds, and critters that entered a deep stage of hibernation have finally awoken from there long, cold slumber and stepped foot into the finally bright, fresh, cheerful, promising world. The news stations are no longer displaying in big capital letters “SCHOOL CLOSINGS AND CANCELLATIONS” across the bottom of their screens, but instead are talking about a plethora of concerts, festivals, and picnics. The trees that were covered from head to toe in a fresh, delicate, glistening layer of snow, are now blossoming beautiful flowers in shades of purple, pink, yellow, and orange. A lot has changed in the past month (typical for Pennsylvania with it’s unpredictable climate) and with the mark of spring marks a new beginning.

            Each year the juniors at Wyoming Area High School host a career day. The goal of the day is to enlighten the students with a variety of options they can eventually have a career in someday. In preparing for the event, the school hires a multiple people from all different professions and the students have to select from a list of about ten options which top three careers sound the most interesting to them. Upon receiving the list, and being a very stressed out junior like many people, it was indeed a life or death matter. As my guidance counselor read down the list, “Nursing, military, education, pharmacy, biology, business, cosmetology” I felt like my head was going to explode. So stressed out and feeling like I had no direction in life since I had no idea of what to major in I interrupted him, “Mr. Rabel what do I do?” “What do you mean?” he answered abruptly. “I am 17 years old. In a few months I’ll be starting my senior year. Everywhere I turn it seems like everyone knows what they want to do with their life. Ask everyone at my lunch table this question and you will get an answer in a split second. Teacher. Nurse. Fashion Designer. Ask me and I have no idea. I just feel like an oddball sometimes and so alone. I don’t know what I’m going to do, what I’m going to major in, where I’m going to go to school , and…” “Jess! Stop. Calm down. It is okay to be unsure of what you want to do it is important to weigh out your options and see what your best at”. For a moment or two I was really inspired by Mr. Rabel’s advice. After all, he was the man who has watched me grow up in this school since seventh grade, of course he would know me better than anyone and how to help. Who was I trying to kid that I was all alone. After a few minutes of contemplating what to say after my almost emotional breakdown I answered him with confidence, “I know I am good at chemistry my teacher last year was excellent and I really learned a lot, and I enjoy science. I am a people person a love to talk and meet new and interesting people. I love bio, I just had AP Biology this year”. “Perhaps something medical or medicine wise would be the best option for you, Jess. You are capable of handling the workload, and I have 110% confidence that you would succeed”.