Drinking at Penn State

The issue of this piece is that there is so much drinking and partying at campuses but it’s such a common thing and most people don’t see anything wrong with it. They wanted to find out why Penn State was the number one party school and what has been done to correct the drinking problem. They want to find out what it means to party, and why they party. They started this investigation because it’s so common to find students all over the nation binge drinking and there seems to be no end in sight. This story has no really specific audience but it will find more favor with none students. In a way it is also made for students and possible to help inform them of the effects their partying has on other people. The piece explained what went on during a typical night by being stationed on a porch down town. They also gave information about it being common for drunken college students to just walk in to someone’s house and fall asleep. Through the details of what some townies have witnessed such as the dangerous actions of throwing furniture off a roof then setting it on fire, peeing on people property, and just being obnoxiously loud they showed the problems the townies are having when dealing with the drunk kids.

They then explained the view point of alumni by going to a tailgate and getting interviews and explaining the atmosphere here. They decribied the university as being a community because of tailgating. They all come together to calibrate and cheer for their school football team. One person they interview said that if they got banned tailgates many of the alumni would be unhappy and stop giving the school money. They also went to many different stores near state college to see how drinking affected them. They gave lots of statics about economy and that state college had a high unemployment rate. Many of the store owners did not mind the drinking, which they made lots of money off of. Some were happy that the students were having a good time. One bar owner said that he liked being around them because the students have their whole future to look forward to where most bars have sad depressed people. Then they gave the statistic that state college is one of the safest communities but that state college spends a ton of money in the police department. In this report they included interviews that did a nice job of explain several different viewpoints. Then the interviewee would give statistics that were about the information the person in the interview had given. The interviewee would then further explain what the person they interview said.

The only reason people worry about drinking is because it is so dangerous to the student. The university has tried hard to stop the drinking issues but nothing seems to have a huge effect. After a death due to drinking, students at Penn State where given the message, if you’re going to drink, drink responsibly. The students did become more responsible by not allowing anyone to go home by themselves but the students did not consider drinking less. The efforts that Penn State makes toward drinking only lasts so long because the students leave by the thousands and more replaces them every year not remembering the deaths that had caused so much change. This report says that drinking at Penn State is a problem because it can result in death but the students do it and they love Penn State. They never want it to end. The University can only do so much. It is an ongoing battle that they have and are continuing to fight. I liked this report because it gave so many different viewpoints on the issue and lots of good facts. They way in which they reported their findings allowed you to follow on their journey of discovery and understand the heart of the problem.