In the beginning of the podcast I
sort of felt like the reporters were being unfairly biased against Penn State
and its students, but that opinion soon changed. After a while I began to realize that they
were actually being pretty neutral in the whole thing. Once I got passed my initial skepticism I
began to look at the piece through as neutral a view as I could. Afterwards I could sympathize with the
residents of State College who don’t like it when people steal things from or
urinate on their lawns. College students
are a destructive impulsive lot that live for the moment and if that moment involves
stealing a street sign and throwing a garbage can, then it’s going to happen,
unfortunately. Luckily, I have yet to
find myself responsible for anything like that.
The most startling realization that
I came to toward the end was of how normal this all is at Penn State. Just about any given Thursday, Friday, or Saturday
night, I could walk down town and see more than half of the things described by
the reporter. Even more startling are
the alcohol related death statistics from an “average” night or weekend in
State College. It’s really weird to
think that an “average” weekend at Penn State might be one of the most
dangerous things I’ve ever experienced.
In the end I was at a cross roads
because I could see from both points of view.
The student who just wants to get out and have fun after a week of
classes and studying and the native who just wants to have a quiet evening at
home. But the podcast did a pretty good
job of presenting the facts from a neutral view point from various
sources. Hopefully the next time they
come to Happy Valley they will report on how much it has improved since their
last visit.
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