Wpopp's Blog

Audience Analysis

wpopp — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 05:09:24 +0000

1. Describe your peer groups knowledge on the issue:

Everyone in my peer group is under the age of 21, and they are part of life on campus. They understand the prevelance of the issue of binge drinking. I initially asked about underage drinking, and they agreed that they knew many people that engage in that, but we determined that trying to stop underage drinking altogether was not a feasible or possible option. They all like to go out and have a good time on the weekends, and so they have witnessed binge drinking being done by Purdue students.

2. Summarize their attitudes towards the issue:

They believe that underage drinking is too big of a problem to tackle, and that no matter what is proposed, it will not be stopped. We discussed the amount of binge drinking on campus, and how dangerous it is, and they agreed that something needed to be done to get people to drink more responsibly.

3. Describe the complexity with which students viewed the issue:

They explained the dangers of drinking so much that people are falling over, passing out, and incoherent. They said it is a dangerous thing, not only because of what it can do to your body, but the dangers you put yourself in when in that state on a college campus. With students on a college campus, especially girls, there is always a possiblity that someone may try to take advantage of you. If you are unable to make decisions for yourself, you put yourself in a dangerous position to wake up somewhere that you are unaware of the next morning.

4. What did you learn?:

I learned that trying to deal with underage drinking at Purdue in general would be very difficult. As a result, I modified my “problem” officially to be that of the problem of binge drinking at Purdue. I feel like this is going to help me focus the paper and give better insights on how the issue can be handled. I am very glad that we were able to “test” our proposals in a way with other people because it helped me understand where my argument was weak and, in my case, how it was necessary to modify the problem in order to make a proposal that was actually a possibility.

200+ Word Reflection (Prospectus Part II)

wpopp — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:12:30 +0000

So far, my research process has gone quite smoothly. I have realized that underage drinking on campus is clearly a big issue because there is a plethora of information regarding the topic. There are parts of the Purdue University webpage dedicated solely to alcohol awareness, and it is addressed in almost every copy of the Exponent. My issue is coming with the interviews. I have the emails out, I am just waiting on responses. I am not very worried though, because I got the emails out during the second half of Thanksgiving break, so I am expecting responses in the next few days. The survey that I created on facebook is going well. People seem to be responding to the questions well. I was initially worried about running a survey on underage drinking because I wasn’t sure how to get people to both initially respond and to tell the truth. Instead of asking direct questions about the individuals’ experiences or encounters with alcohol, I question the people that they know. In essence, they are answering questions about themselves by answering questions about their friends. There are plenty of resources explaining previous efforts to curb the rate and occurrence of underage drinking, so it is nice to look at other ideas because it helps me find the flaws in my ideas. I am very happy with my chosen topic, because it is something that I feel strongly about and that I feel is a real issue that could damage the future of the students who are underage and mess around with alcohol. Overall, I feel the ideas are coming together for my paper. I need to narrow my focus a bit because I tend to have a tendency to over-generalize. Other than that, I am confident with where the paper is going and I am working on my proposal idea specifics.

Annotated Bibliography

wpopp — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 07:56:55 +0000

Alcohol Awareness. Purdue University, 2008. Web. 24 Nov. 2009. .

This website is the official alcohol awareness information base from Purdue University. It includes ways to get involved on campus, alcohol-free activities, resources, and information for parents on drinking prevention. I will use this cite to offer information about the underage drinking issue on Purdue’s campus.

Editorial Board. “Students should know party-time laws and consequences.” The Exponent. [West Lafayette, IN] 2 Oct. 2009. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. .

This article is about the current laws and penalties for having parties where drugs and alcohol are present and for being intoxicated in a public place or giving alcohol to minors. It explains the Class A, B, and C misdemeanors that are handed down in the case of alcohol use. I will use this article to explain the consequences of drinking at Purdue and to raise awareness of the current laws in place about alcohol.

Mahasneh, Nadine. “Police report increase in alcohol-related arrests.” The Exponent. [West Lafayette, IN] 25 Jan. 2008. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. .

This article explains the increases in alcohol-related arrests on Purdue’s campus. I will use this article to help define the fact that there is a problem with alcohol use on campus.

Morrison, Lee. Personal Interview. Dec. 2009.

(Pending) I have an email in to Lee Morrison, the Residential Life Manager for Wiley Hall. I plan on finding out what penalties exist in the University Residence Facilities regarding underage drinking, and alcohol possession in the residences. I want to find out any suggesetions Lee Morrison may have to address the problem of underage drinking at Purdue, as well as an opinion on my proposal.

Popp, Whitney. “Drinking on College Campuses.” Survey. 30 Nov. 2009. Facebook.

This survey is being filled out by college students at Purdue. It addresses such questions that find out what percentage of people under the age of 21 consume alcohol, and issues like the social norm involving alcohol. This is going to give me an insight of the outlook underage students have on underage drinking, and how prevalent it is in their eyes with their groups of friends.

Purdue Police Department. Personal Interview. Dec. 2009.

(Pending) I have an email in to the Purdue Police Department and I am waiting on contact back from them regarding my questions on underage drinking on campus. I plan to use this interview to see what efforts have been tried in the past and if my idea of increasing patrols on the weekends is a feasible option for the Purdue Police Department.

Rosemeyer, Lt. Mike. “Students’ alcohol decisions could damage futures.” The Exponent. [West Lafayette, IN] 16 Apr. 2008. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. .

The article was written by the commander of the Indiana State Excise Police’s third district. It explains underage drinking as a gateway to other harmful drugs. The article explains that underage drinking has the potential to damage underage students. I will use this article to help define the problems of underage drinking on Purdue’s campus.

Smith, Daniel. “Volunteers helps prevent minor drinking.” The Exponent. [West Lafayette, IN] 17 Oct. 2007. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. .

This article is about a compliance check program in which liquor stores are tested to see if they card people purchasing alcohol to verify age. This program is identified as one that provides data about where minors are getting alcohol. I will use this article to introduce methods that are already in place to inhibit minors from purchasing alcohol.

Westervelt, Mike. “New drivers license design helps limit use of fake IDs.” The Exponent. [West Lafayette, IN] 06 Sept. 2007. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. .

This article is about the new driver’s license design for people under the age of 21. It discusses the ability of the new license to be difficult to replicate. I will use this to discuss one way that students under the age of 21 are deterred from alcohol purchases.

“What Peer Educators and Resident Advisors (RAs) Need to Know About College Drinking.” collegedrinkingprevention.gov. College Drinking Prevention, 23 Sept. 2005. Web. 24 Nov. 2009. .

This site includes information on the factors affecting drinking on college campuses as well as any facts and statistics about the prevalence of the college drinking problem. I will use this as supporting information of my claim that there is a problem with drinking on college campuses.

Research Plan

wpopp — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:51:50 +0000

In order to gather information on the numbers of people who drink underage, I am going to survey all the people on my floor in a University Residences facility. All of these people are under the age of 21 and are predominantly freshman. I want to find out how many of them drink on a regular basis, and if they do, how they get their alcohol. I will survey both the boy’s side and girl’s sides of my floor in an effort to get both perspectives. I also plan on posting the survey on facebook in order to get the overall outlook on people that go to Purdue.

I plan on setting up an interview with a member of the police department to find out what efforts they do in order to deter underage drinking, and what they do when they find people who either drink underage or are 21 (or older) and purchase alcohol for minors. I want to know what they suggest could be changed in order to decrease the prevalence of this issue on Purdue’s campus.

I want to interview the director of the University Residences facilities in order to discuss the penalties of drinking in the dorms. I plan on finding out who deals with these issues, and what she suggests to help the efforts of curbing the amount of underage drinking that exists on our campus.

I also plan to research successful efforts on other college campuses to decrease underage drinking and try to determine if and how those plans could be implemented here at Purdue. I want to determine the costs of the extra patrols from the police department and the feasibility of this overall issue.

Problem/Solution Proposal Argument

wpopp — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:41:17 +0000

On Purdue’s campus, the issue of underage drinking is very prevalent and needs to be addressed in a different way than it has ever been addressed before. Drinking by people under the age of 21 is dangerous because the brain is still in developmental stages and could be harmed by the toxins released into the body while consuming alcohol. There are efforts on campus to curb drinking rates, but the problem still exists despite what is being done. Purdue has its own police department and the police patrol the Purdue Campus and housing area every night on the weekends. They are visible from the residence halls because the police often meet in dorm parking lots to discuss their plans of action for the night. The Pan-Hellenic Board on campus has instituted rules that Sororities on campus must be ‘dry’ houses. There are rules against the possession of or consumption of alcohol within university residences as well that are meant to discourage drinking. However, students under 21 still manage to get away with drinking on campus. Despite all of these efforts, the problem of underage alcohol consumption on Purdue’s campus continues to be an issue. Students drink in the dorms on the weekends and then go out and party. College freshman and sophomores have newly been released from the control of their parents after moving out and going to school and they are able to do what they want without getting into direct trouble from their family. They are able to get older students to purchase alcohol for them. Greek Fraternity houses on campus constantly have open bars in their houses and at their parties. These parties do not card their guests to find out if they are old enough to legally drink. With all of these things happening on campus, it is much easier than most people think for students to both obtain and consume alcohol. In order to decrease this issue on campus, several things can be done. University Residences already have rules in place about alcohol possession and consumption in their facilities. Despite this fact, many people still get away with drinking in their rooms. There need to be more patrols of the hallways on weekends, and Resident Assistants should be more vocal in their efforts to keep alcohol off their floors. There needs to be a “One strike and you’re out” policy, instead of the policy in place now that gives an initial warning, and then if the issue persists, punishments get bigger and stricter. Police need to patrol different areas on the weekends. The police department needs to have some officers patrolling the areas around University Residence facilities to watch for suspicious behavior from students under the age of 21. There need to be random alcohol tests administered to various people in different areas. The Pan-Hellenic organization on campus needs to implement rules that everyone going into a party in one of their houses must be carded to receive alcohol. There need to be stronger rules and harsher punishments for those who buy alcohol for underage students. That is the main way that underage students get alcohol, so by enforcing rules on the people that purchase it, the amount of alcohol underage people actually obtain would be forced downward. I think if underage students actually knew what they were doing to their bodies, they may think twice before consuming alcohol. At home, most students are just told that they aren’t allowed to have alcohol, instead of being told why. Students need to know what the chemicals in alcohol can do to their brains. Then they may be deterred from even wanting alcohol in the first place.

Project 4, Proposal: Underage Drinking

wpopp — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:34:19 +0000

Step One:

Identify the problem: Underage drinking on our campus.

What causes it? College age kids are finally out from under the watchful eyes of their parents and feel as if they have freedom. Underage students are able to get alcohol from older students and can also get alcohol very easily from Frat parties and other types of parties.

What has already been done? Alcohol is not permitted in University Residences and cops make regular patrols on weekends of the areas around residence halls to watch people walking around.

What will happen if nothing is done? Students will continue to drink recklessly and make themselves sick. More students could get alcohol poising from not knowing how to be responsible with alcohol and could get set on a path to alcohol abuse, both while in college and after they have graduated.

Step Two:

Propose your solution: There should be more patrols and stricter consequences for those who are caught drinking underage and those who purchase alcohol for them.

Make a claim advocating a specific course of action: I think that if more patrols of police around the areas where students return to residence halls at night and more random alcohol tests would deter people from drinking while underage. Also, continued patrolling of frat parties and stricter consequences on people who buy alcohol for minors would discourage people of age from allowing underage drinking.

Understanding Comics: Palestine

wpopp — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:59:41 +0000

Looking through Palestine, I find many interesting images and different layouts of words, pictures, and ideas. I have never read comics beyond the ones found in a Sunday paper, so when I first looked through this book, I became very excited to delve into a new genre of writing that I’m not fully aware of. The cover of Palestine jumps out as a window to the collection of comics. It is a very “dark” picture that is drawn in complete shades of black and gray. There is chaos, trash, and many people cluttering the picture. It makes me feel that the entire comic will have something to do with these topics. The panels within the pages often are separated by individual borders. This gives the feeling that each frame is conveying its own idea or scene (or part of a scene). On some of the pages, the comics break out of the frames and each scene seems to blur into another part of the story. The beginning is separated moment-to-moment and aspect-to-aspect. The conversation will switch people as the frame switches perspective, and in some frames, the only thing that has changed is the number of people present. Action-to-action is also present, as well as scene-to-scene as people characters tell stories. The text is also picture specific and is laid out in such a way that they illustrate what in fact is occurring in each frame. Word specificity and duo specificity adds to the first pages that I looked through as well. There are several parallel areas where the dialogue is an internal thought and symbolic word placement when stories are being told. The pictures and words, for the most part, can be considered interdependent. Often times, when individual frames aren’t present, the reading of the comic will go in a diagonal pattern. After reading the McCloud handout on how to write comics, I have discovered that it is easier to see the flow of a comic, which will in fact help me, read and get the actual message. I am very excited to begin Palestine and find out what Joe Sacco is trying to say in his graphic novel.

Subculture: Developing Field Research Questions

wpopp — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:20:12 +0000

1. After observing your subculture, what questions do you have about how it operates?

How did they find time to prepare their routines? Was it a summer thing, or do they have more practices in closed spaces that the public does not see?

Who is the main leader of the group?

How did all the band members become members of the band? Was it merely a “you want to be in it, you are in it”, or was there some sort of audition process?

Does the leadership change depending on the day? Or is the same person always the leader? Has the leadership structure developed naturally, or is it a designated structure?

2. Were the leader/follower relationships in the subculture clear to you? Why or why not?

Some of the leader/follower relationships in the subculture were clear to me. During practices, it is clear that the person on the platform in front of the band conducting it is the leader. In their small groups, the leaders are still visual, just not as clear, because there is a lot of specificity in these groups, and everyone is playing instruments, trying to prepare and get their music correct. I need to observe their practice habits more to see if a leader develops that is not one of the designated leaders. I need to see how true to the intended structures the band stays. I will watch to see the relationships of the ‘followers’, versus the members of the ‘leaders’.

3. What was unique or unusual about the subculture?

This subculture is basically the motivating factor in school spirit at football games. I find it interesting how at practices, the band members are completely unaware of outsiders watching them, and they seem to be completely focused on their instruments and music and nothing else, but at games, the band is completely aware and very concerned with the audience that is watching them. They are full of energy and do their best to really perform. They try to get as much interaction from the crowd as possible. That awareness of who is watching them is contradictory, because they go from one extreme to the other.

4. What questions do you think someone who had never observed this subculture would have about it if you were to describe it to them?

They would want to know why a marching band was a necessary part of a football game, and why people make such a big deal out of the preparation for games. I think they would question how exactly it is a subculture, versus just being a group of people who like to play instruments. Until you witness everything that they do, it is slightly difficult to understand what exactly they do, and why they are so important. I think that people would wonder why they have to practice so much, because they wouldn’t understand the concept of their halftime performances and game rituals and how detailed they actually are.

5. How does this subculture help its members develop a personal identity?

This subculture helps its members find a sense of belonging on campus. The band is an extremely visual part of campus in the fall, so everyone knows about the band. For people who are really into sports, the band gives them an opportunity to feel like they are part of the action. I feel like it would give its members a sense of belonging to the University, and would make them feel like they played an active role in the college game-day environment, which they do. The band helps people understand the meaning of hard work and discipline, along with time management, so being a member helps instill life lessons within each person that will not only be beneficial to them while in college, but after they graduate and are in the workforce and a part of the community.

6. What does it mean to be a member of this subculture?

To be a member of this subculture means that you are an integral part in the football season on campus. Purdue is a Big Ten College, and the band gives it a sense of real unity, because everyone is cheering for the same team. As a member of this subculture, there is a love for the school, and it’s an opportunity to meet many new people who share in your interests. Members of the Marching Band exhibit pride in what they do, and they are a very visual piece of the student body. The members of the Purdue All-American Marching Band are the reason why football season is so entertaining. They fill the campus with music, set the college environment, and help to make people proud to be a Boilermaker.

The Purdue All-American Marching Band, Profile

wpopp — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:13:26 +0000

The band is a subculture with many different aspects. They seem to all be part of one group, but when you look at the group as a whole, you realize that there are many different things about the group than just being “the band.” Each instrumental group is its own smaller group within the subculture of the band, but without each smaller group, the band would be unable to function as a whole.

The band is very essential to school spirit and organization throughout football games. They set the atmosphere before the game by marching through campus in a parade and then onto the field in Ross Aide. They sing the school song “Hail Purdue” as they march, and cheer against our opposing team of the day. They organize the student section at games, by starting the 1, 2, 3, 4…first down! cheer with their musical introduction to it. They play the school song every time Purdue scores a touchdown. They are the backbone to the cheers performed by the students section. Basically, they are the cheer-leaders of the cheer leaders, because the cheerleaders continue whatever cheers the band starts. Another essential role that the band plays during the game is the halftime entertainment. They perform to keep people entertained during the break in the game. The Band is so good, that fans will wait until after their performances to leave their seats and socialize or get something to eat during halftime. The band is the spirit behind the game, and without them, the games would be somewhat bland.

In order to be prepared for these games, the band must practice on a day to day basis. One of the requirements to being a member of the subculture, along with being able to read sheet music, and playing an instrument, is to be able to practice every day with the entire band. That is the way they perfect everything they try to do. Practices are led by one main conductor, but each instrumental group is led by its own instrumentalist that knows the music very well. Part of practice is held in their individual instrumental groups, in order for the different parts of the music to be correct before joining the group as a whole. At full band practices, they practice on a “football field” by the intramural fields, and go through their halftime performances step-by-step. The members of the group interact well with one another, but they expect each person to be prepared for practice. If this is not the case, then there is more disappointment than there is anger.

The band is characterized by their instruments, the World’s Largest Drum, and by their marching band uniforms. On game days and on days when they just have practice, students are always able to point out the band members. They are always together, and normally do not let outsiders into their groups as they walk down the streets of campus, or as they eat dinner in the dining halls and all sit at the same table. The Band is very connected, and it is easy to tell that each member feels a sense of belonging. They are together so much, that it is easy to see why it seems that if you are in band, so is your best friend.

The Purdue All-American Marching Band

wpopp — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:12:21 +0000

The Purdue All-American Marching Band is a big subculture on campus at Purdue University.

At Practice:

T-shirts and athletic shorts

Instruments

Each instrument has its own area to circle up into to practice

Each group has a leader that critiques the music as they play; this leader seems to be an actual instrumentalist in that group

The Golden Girl, The Girl in Black, and the Silver Twins practice at the same times, as they too are part of the band, even though they do not play instruments.

When practicing on practice “football field,” one conductor is on a platform in front of the whole group

I wonder when they practice the formations…they seem to all know exactly what they are doing already without instruction needed…maybe they practice this during the summer??

Cultural artifacts: instruments, world’s largest drum…

Everyone is very focused, no attention is paid to outsiders. They do not notice the many peple walking by as they practice.

Game:

Pre-game parade:

Led by Golden Girl

Usually just play “Hail Purdue”

Actually sing the lyrics; have hand motions that go with it

Cheer along with their music on breaks from playing (cheer against the opposing team of the day “the huskies are dead”)

March onto field

During Game:

Sit in reserved section behind the end zone, or rather stand

Play lots of music, not just school song

Lead cheers

Organizes the student section

Dance around with their instruments

Halftime show; very organized and put together

Shout! Performances during the 4^th quarter;. Some of the band members run all the way around the football team.

Pay great attention to outsiders during games (contradictory to practice)

Artifacts: instruments, Drum, Marching Band Uniforms

Still under the direction of the conductor

Very energetic