Number 1 Lie

In 2009, Penn State was named the “Number 1 Party School”. The issue of the “This American Life” piece was to prove that the school deserves this title. It is not credible to just claim that Penn State is the biggest party school, there needs to be reasons, anecdotes, interviews, and statistics showing why the university was named this. While some may argue that the intended audience would be students or faculty of Penn State, I think that it is more for adults who are college graduates. Specifically ones that look down on drinking.
There were several details and stories provided to show how the issue affects different people related to the university. One of these anecdotes includes a resident of State College, whose yard is often filled with pizza plates and beer cans, and another resident who had to install motion detectors in their yard due to all of the incidents with drunken students that he had had. Perhaps the story dealing with a resident that resonated with me the most was the one where a male student was found in the bedroom of a young child after breaking into their house.
The report also includes perspectives from the students. Some of these perspectives include “frackets”, “the drunk bus”, getting into frats, football Saturdays, and risqué dresses for girls. It was also very interesting to hear the reporters follow a police officer in State College. Listeners were able to hear directly of 2 arrests made in one night, one for a fake ID and the other for public urination. It was a way to see into a typical night of a Penn State police officer.
Finally, the report included a powerful focus on the death of a student. There was many interviews of students and faculty about this incident. They also looked into the police reports. Students were asked if this death will cause them to stop drinking, and most said no. However the students said that this will cause them to be more careful and stay in a group when drinking.
There were several narrative techniques used in this report. These include anecdotes, sensory details, and firsthand accounts. The report also has a clear structure and organization. It is organized into four separate acts and an introduction. The narrative techniques used make the report interesting and easy to listen to. It does not lag or get boring or repetitive.
Personally, I did not like this report. I feel that is was made by a bunch of stuck up adults who try to act like they are above everyone. Except I guarantee that they drank in college. They could have gone to any college around the same size and nature (i.e. big football team, state school) and found the exact same things. The reason that they made Penn State look like the biggest party school was because they actually put forth the effort to investigate. The same level of partying and arrests and underages happen at colleges all across the country. They used terms that I, as a student, have never heard and clearly exaggerated certain aspects of party life such as the “slutty” outfits girls wear. Not all girls wear these outfits. You can often find girls in jeans and flats. Also, I have never even heard of the rule that only members of fraternities and sororities are allowed in the frat houses. I think that the reporters picked an angle before researching and used every piece of evidence that they could to prove it.