Journal #6 Investigative Report Outline

1. Opening Scene: On Sunday, September 20, 2009 Penn State freshman, Joe Dado, was reported missing after leaving a party at Phi Gamma Delta. His body was discovered the following evening around 6pm, from a repairman, outside of the Hosler Building. It was discovered that Joe had fallen 15 feet to his death. Soon after, police come across that alcohol was a factor in this atrocious casualty. However, did this sad start for Penn Staters result in any sort of change in campus regulations? Do Penn State students now realize the potential hazards of the overconsumption of alcohol and walking home alone?

2. Illustrative quote that will conclude your scene:

Zane: “I can’t drink for a while now.”

Me: “Why”

Zane: “This.” (Yellow sheet of paper, was charged with an underage.)

Well I guess, apparently not. Students each day are still becoming hospitalized, passing out, throwing up, and partaking in idiotic drunken acts.

3. Nut Graph: The University on the other hand has become stricter with drinking regulations. According to a Megan, an RA, “the rules for drinking have changed since Dado’s death. East never was a dry until this year. I am 21, so I would be able to have alcohol in my room. Now I cant. Anywhere there are freshman, there can’t be alcohol. They weren’t as strict last year”. It is however good to know that the University is taking a stance. Zane’s underage, as well as new regulations for dorms, show that Penn State is taking drinking more seriously.

4. Background: After Joe’s death Penn State is in fact becoming stricter with drinking. They have created new rules for RA’s as well as students and fraternities.

5. Supporting Information 1: “If you get caught throwing up in the bathroom, the RA’s automatically have to call the ambulance” –Megan, RA, age 21.

The school now takes the most direct approach with drinking. If you get caught, and are incoherent, the ambulance MUST come.

6. Supporting Information 2:

“Now frats have to make lists and they have to watch who can get in. We never had those security guys either. They have to make sure the frats are following the rules. They have to have an emergency number, a taxi, and drinks other than alcohol. The frats used to be chill. If you get caught, you have to go to a course and pay a fine.”- Paul, RA, age 20.

Currently, Fraternities are required to be rigorous with who they allow in. They must abide by harsher rules, and safety is now up there with having a good time. Security guards walk through the frats to make sure students are complying by the rules and partying in a safe manner.

7. Supporting Information 3:

“At first when I saw the security guards I thought they were police. It was scary. There were so many of them. They walk around carrying clipboards. They don’t do anything now they just make sure we are ok. It is the police who hide behind bushes that you have to watch out for.” –Ali, freshman, age 18

Ali affirms that there are a lot of security guards and policemen at night who watch out for students.

Supporting Information 4:

“It is scary for me to know that it is so easy to get an underage because for me, if I get one, I can not become a teacher.” Ali, freshman, age 18

Students are fearful about getting an underage; this can have positive and negative effects. Positive: hopefully students will be smarter about drinking. Negative: they will not want to ask for help when they need it.

8. Conclusion: Penn State students will not stop drinking, however it is good that the campus is making sure that students are being safe about drinking. Having security guards around truly does help. The arresting part and automatically calling the ambulance, does not help so much, because this will cause students to become fearful of asking for help when needed, however I do know that Penn State is doing their role when it comes to student safety.

Journal #5 Investigative Report: Has Penn State become stricter after Dado's Death?

1) 1) The plot of my paper will be Penn State. I want to mainly focus on drinking in East Halls and in the frat houses because Dado was a freshman, and he did in fact leave a frat house, before he sadly passed away. The frat houses as well as east are filled with underage drinkers, and I would love to know how Penn State is attempting to handle the situation. East halls is filled with freshman, in Bigler, my building, there are about 65 freshman to a floor! I only have four floors, but most other buildings have twice as many floors! There are 14 freshman buildings. This leaves for thousands of freshman who could potentially be partaking in underage drinking. I do not expect drinking to stop, but I do hope that people are safe. Frat row is crazy as well. Teens fill the streets late at night as they walk from frat to frat. The houses are dark, packed, and loud, basically the perfect danger zone. People are always sloppily drunk, throwing up, and falling all over the place. Are these the proper party conditions? Personally, I know that teens are going to drink, but at home it was a lot safer. If a friend was ever sick, most of the time someone could always find a parent to help or a way to cover it up. Here, we can not do that. If a friend is getting sick, most of the time they get caught by the cops, or written up by an RA. The school should make a program that you can not get in trouble with the law or school if you get caught sick. We should have warnings before legally getting in trouble.

2)1) “Yeah, the rules for drinking have changed since Dado’s death. East never was a dry until this year. I am 21, so I would be able to have alcohol in my room. Now I cant. Anywhere there are freshman, there cant be alcohol. They weren’t as strict last year” –Megan, RA, age 21

“If you get caught throwing up in the bathroom, the RA’s automatically have to call the ambulance” –Megan, RA, age 21.

“Now frats have to make lists and they have to watch who can get in. We never had those security guys either. They have to make sure the frats are following the rules. They have to have an emergency number, a taxi, and drinks other than alcohol. The frats used to be chill. If you get caught, you have to go to a course and pay a fine.” –Paul, RA, age 20

Zane: “I can’t drink for a while now.”

Me: “Why”

Zane: “This.” (Yellow sheet of paper, was charged with an underage.)

-Zane, Freshman, 18

3)Fact#1: Dado’s death caused the University, IFC, and State College Borough to take serious looks at the way they handle alcohol abuse by students, and has resulted in significant policy changes from all three. (onwardstate.com)

Fact #2: resident Spanier announced to the Board of Trustees a 30-component strategy to curb the drinking problem. The policy includes mandatory alcohol training for all students treated for alcohol poisoning or cited for underage drinking, as well as the introduction of a responsible action protocol that keeps students who call for medical assistance from facing judicial affairs. In addition, IFC has altered its social policy to focus on education, allowing for fraternity members to take a class to become Greek Event Monitors for socials, as well as ID checks at the door and bans on Wednesday socials and away bars. The Commonwealth has also spoken up, with State Senator Jake Corman (R-Centre County) proposing increasing the fines for alcohol related offenses to $1000. (onwardstate.com)

Fact#3: The most noticeable difference is that professional bouncers are no longer required to work at each and every event. Instead, fraternity brothers (which can be from the chapter hosting the party) can undergo an IFC training program to be a certified Greek Event Monitor. Monitors are posted throughout the event, rather than just at the entrance and exit. Like bartenders, they will be required to be sober throughout the course of the night. In addition, the policy addresses the disconnection between guests invited and guests actually in attendance. (http://onwardstate.com/2010/08/30/new-ifc-social-event-policy-in-place/)

Fact#4: Penn State's school year is off to a sad start with tonight's announcement that freshman Joe Dado, missing since early Sunday morning, was found dead by repairmen. Joe Dado had been missing since 3 am Sunday when he was last seen leaving a frat party at Phi Gamma Delta. As of Monday afternoon, the Federal Bureau of Investigation had been called in to help locate the missing college student, a state police helicopter search was underway, and police, family and k-9 units were combing the campus grounds in the hopes of finding Joe Dado. Early Monday evening, news no one wanted to hear, Joe Dado's body was found. The Penn Stater blog reported that Joe Dado fell 15 feet to his death near a mechanical room outside Hosler building. He suffered severe head trauma. Joe Dado's body was found by repairmen responding to a service call at about 6 p.m. (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2199901/joe_dados_death_marks_sad_start_to.html?cat=8)

4) I would like to further investigate changes that have taken place with drinking on the Penn State campus. I want to learn more about the regulations that the school has now taken into play. My RA was saying that now, if they see someone getting sick they must automatically call the ambulance. This is not a good idea because students will then get in trouble with the police as well as the school. This discourages students from attaining medical help when needed. I want to also further investigate changes that took place with the Fraternities. Lastly, I also wonder if there have been more or less underage drinking citations since the new policies have been enforced.

#1 Party School

I found the broadcast “#1 Party School”, by This American Life, to be hilarious and quite entertaining. Since I am a Penn Stater, I found myself able to relate to many of these issues; the tailgates, parties, academics. The investigators truly did capture the essence of a weekend at PSU, the frat life was right on target. Their descriptions, one-on-one confrontations with students, as well as quoting the president assisted in the vivid imagery portrayed throughout the broadcast. I could relate to everything from, “fratkets”, crazy tailgates, girls in ridiculously short skirts and heels that look like they could break ankles, the “drunk bus” breaking out in song, and experiences on frat row. Two weekends ago, I saw a girl “discreetly” peeing in, what she thought to be a bush, directly on frat row! The amount of drunken teens here is insane! As a matter of fact, the girl was wearing a skirt and high heels to. On few occasions, I have seen girls in heels fall flat on their faces, I have seen multiple people walk into poles, fall out of the busses, Oh, and fall face first into bushes. The first description of the Frat houses was hilarious “the thick muck covering the floor”, he couldn’t have described it better. The frat houses are sticky and sweaty, people dance, the windows ARE covered with garbage bags, and it is quite disgusting. The frats sort of make you feel like you are in a dirty club.

Although drinking may be fun, and the stories are hilarious, it can be dangerous. The university cannot stop it, but there are ways to regulate the drinking and keep it safe. They describe drinking to be something that brings us together in this Happy Valley. They interview tailgaters who claim that, “it is just something to do”. The investigative reporters depict how drinking is fun but many students drink way over the top. They discuss the drunken escapades of teens making the students sound idiotic and ridiculous, which sort of puts drinking in a new perspective.

Students drink, and do not think of the repercussions of their actions. The investigators continue to discuss how the issue of drinking affects different students around the campus. They quote President, Graham Spanier’s issues with cleaning up the mess to the Publicity and Alumni that the students here at PSU create. The investigators even talk to a boy who had to quit a frat because he was falling behind with his academics. This, however shows that some teens are smart about drinking and not all live by the alcoholic and barbaric stereotypes that go along with this school. The ingestions truly capture the essence of PSU nightlife and parties, however they effectively portray the dangers of drinking as well. The broadcast does an excellent job doing this by later flipping the mood around by talking about Joe Dado’s death. I feel discussing the death showed how harmful and hazardous drinking truly can be. It made students reevaluate if they actually want that “#1 Party School” title. The baggage that comes along with such a title is one that may be to much to handle. Death is a serious matter, especially when tied in with drinking. Whose fault is it? The school for allowing the drinking to occur? The frat for allowing this boy to drink too much? Drinking in this instance, is a HUGE problem on campus. We know it can not be stopped, but a better look out could be beneficial. This instance completely altered the mood of the investigative report, and changed the “woo-hoo!” emotion of the partying title to something sorrowful and regretful.

The investigators do a great job capturing the essence of Penn State, but what I also liked is that in the end, they made a valid point about drinking and what it means to hold that title. The investigators truly found a lot of information to back up the point they were trying to make.

"Shitty First Drafts"

Lamott’s piece shows us how important “shitty first drafts” are. It is normal to have a first draft be all over the place, one just has to know how to fix it. A first draft is a way to get all of your ideas onto paper. It is not supposed to be organized or well written and it is usually a sloppy mess. It is a way to get your ideas onto the paper. They may seem not so important because of their lack of order and perfection, however First drafts, are crucial because this draft will be the basis of the final outcome. Lamott’s story reassured me that I am able to write a good paper. Writing an A paper takes time as well as trail and error. A paper must be treated with care and revised over and over again. Typically I become worried when writing a first draft, because I am afraid that my paper will not make any sense and won’t have the proper flow. However, all of these mistakes are necessary in order to have a decent paper. I learned that you must take the good pieces of your first draft and use and organize them in a way that they will work with the final. It is all about organization and getting your ideas straight. A crappy first draft is completely normal. The more ideas, the better the outcome. It is ok for the first draft to be sloppy, it is allowed to start at point A and finish at point Z because in the end the writer has many more ideas to work with.

A first draft is the basis of a final. You just have to let your fingers type and ideas as they flow out of your head. Afterwards is when you can efficiently piece the puzzle together and have your words make sense. You can create outlines and such in order to become organized with your works. Lamott gives very helpful advice because it made me put into perspective how truly important the first draft is. The first draft is written for marking up, tweaking, and scribbling all over. It is the foundation of your works. Just like a house needs a sturdy foundation, so does your paper. The first draft is the framework. As the house gets built; the walls are put into place and the flooring is laid down, your paper gets reorganized and words are assembled differently. This continues to happen until it is time for the finishing touches, the paint, decorations, etc. This is the final draft, the smaller things, making sure the words make sense and every last detail is in place. Writing a paper is a cumulative process. It takes a lot of time and effort. The more you revise, the better your paper will be. I completely agree with the point Lamott was trying to get across.