This American Life: #1 Party School

NPR did a piece from Penn State one football weekend about Student Drinking and of course #1Party School.

about 2 years ago amandakt 18 comments 0 recs |

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sorry, but you're about 4 days late to the party

http://www.blackshoediaries.com/2009/12/17/1205717/someone-at-work-just-sent-me-this#comments

honest mistake though; FanShot wasn’t obviously titled and was just barely off the front page.

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!

by thedrizzle on Dec 21, 2009 9:16 PM EST reply actions

Drizzle, drizzle, drizzle. C'mon man! You know what to do:

PENN STATE NAMED #1 PARTY SCHOOL IN THE COUNTRY IN POINTLESS AND CONSTANTLY ROTATING LIST!!!

by dawsonPSU10 on Dec 22, 2009 2:36 AM EST up reply actions

HELL NO!

THEY WILL KEEP IT THIS YEAR! IF WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL CAN BE #1, THEN BY-GOD, STUDENTS CAN CONTINUE TO DRINK THEMSELVES INTO A SPIRALING OBLIVION!!

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!

by thedrizzle on Dec 22, 2009 8:36 AM EST up reply actions

my bad...

"They say in Happy Valley that if God wasn’t a Penn State fan, why is the sky blue and white?" Fortt said. "Who am I to argue with God?"

by amandakt on Dec 22, 2009 8:40 AM EST up reply actions

i didn't actually get a chance to listen to it yet

i download the podcast every week and listen to it at work, but my ipod died and i’m not getting a new one til christmas.

was it any good?

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!

by thedrizzle on Dec 22, 2009 9:34 AM EST up reply actions

the first bit of it was really embarassing b/c of the stuff that the kids did. it then moved on to tailgating and how it’s a family thing/drinking/football what not. i was really surprised about how postive the business owners in the area are in relation to students/drinking.

i think it could have mentioned this is more a national problem, but overall it was a good piece.

the end was great.

"They say in Happy Valley that if God wasn’t a Penn State fan, why is the sky blue and white?" Fortt said. "Who am I to argue with God?"

by amandakt on Dec 22, 2009 2:55 PM EST up reply actions

overall it was a good piece

TWSS

"Have I ever told the story of when I met Miley Cyrus?"

by Jeff Junstrom on Dec 22, 2009 3:22 PM EST up reply actions

It had me cringing and it had me laughing.

I thought it was a good piece. With 70 minutes to devote on one topic, they have the time to provide some nuance to their reporting. It’s not a puff piece, it’s not a condemnation, it’s just a nice exploration of life being lived and experienced in the small corner of earth known as State College.

Also, anyone who buys a house on Frat Row HAS TO KNOW how bad an idea that is. At best, turn the house into a rental unit and hope it doesn’t get trashed, but for the love of cod don’t raise your child on Frat Row!

by Cairo on Dec 22, 2009 5:38 PM EST up reply actions

I didn't hear the piece

But I’m pretty sure there are only 6 houses on Frat Row, maybe only 4 that actually have “Fraternity Row” addresses. I don’t think there are children being raised in any of them (at least I hope to hell not). What’s the origin of this claim?

"Have I ever told the story of when I met Miley Cyrus?"

by Jeff Junstrom on Dec 22, 2009 6:17 PM EST up reply actions

the one guy in the piece said he lived next to one of the frats

on frat row. there are several families up there, with children. they usually set up lemonade stands during arts fest there.

"They say in Happy Valley that if God wasn’t a Penn State fan, why is the sky blue and white?" Fortt said. "Who am I to argue with God?"

by amandakt on Dec 22, 2009 8:59 PM EST up reply actions

i thought she said she lived on garner?

there is a point on Garner where it becomes less frat/more homes (i think it’s East Hamilton), so i don’t know exactly where the woman lives. but yeah, you can’t move within 2 blocks of a fraternity house and expect it to NOT be like that, that would be just stupid.

also, i used to live on frat row when i was at school. there are no “non-frat” houses with “fraternity row” addresses, but there are some houses VERY close to it. like, on Foster, between Garner and Locust, close.

fun fact: did you know that Fraternity Row used to be named Thompson St.?

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!

by thedrizzle on Dec 22, 2009 6:23 PM EST up reply actions

I would say you probably can't raise a child in a 6 block radius of that area of town.

I also lived very close to Frat Row in college, and fraternities or not, no small child should be near that debauchery. I would not have wanted to look up from a 3 am vom sesh to see a child with a real red wagon playing in the street.

"Have I ever told the story of when I met Miley Cyrus?"

by Jeff Junstrom on Dec 22, 2009 6:30 PM EST up reply actions

Why would there be a child with a wagon playing in the street at 3am?

That’s just bad parenting, lol.

by dawsonPSU10 on Dec 23, 2009 12:08 AM EST up reply actions

Cringing and laughing

That was about right. There’s going to be a little embarassment b/c it was just a Penn State thing, but I think most people understand that stuff happens everywhere.

Now that I’m a State College resident, I’ve seen how much the town offers besides drinking/partying/football. Definitely a lot more going on than I realized as a student.

by speedomike on Dec 23, 2009 9:37 AM EST up reply actions