UNCC media

Why it’s not the Watergirl

I chose to return to my team project forum 2 where I stated that in the movie The Waterboy gender roles and gender differences were not just seen in the classroom, but also in college athletics. My claim was that college movies tend to promote the idea that men’s sports is the highlight of college athletics. This helped spark my interest in looking into why men’s sports is so prominent in college’s portrayed in movies. I found that it is not only shown in college movies, but in real colleges around the country. This has actually been an issue for a very long time in American collegiate history. It was not until 1972 when Title ix of the Education rights demanded that women have equality on the playing field. As explained by Deborah J. Anderson title ix “prohibits discrimination by gender in any federally funded educational activities” (2). Now this law seems pretty straightforward, it should not be hard to follow but when it comes to sports it can get murky. “Although the scope of title ix to college athletics has been especially complicated because athletics programs, unlike most academic classes, usually are sex-segregated by sport.” (Anderson 2).  To be honest it was not something that I thought too much about. Going back to my claim, I used specific sports and explained them as supportive roles like cheer leading. Sadly I could not find any research or studies that mentioned anything about supportive roles in sports. To find information like that surveys would have to be carefully questioned, and the study done would be very abstract. However I did shift my focus over to another idea in college sports that still encompassed gender. This first source that I found helped inadvertently support my thesis, it supports it weakly and in a second hand way but it still highlights my main objective of wanting to know why men’s sports are so much more popular to the majority of Americans, however what I did not find was research suggesting that women can become socialized to think that because of this are they in a supportive role. So now going back to the movie, why did we only see men on the playing field? I know that the movie focused on the men’s football team, but why was it the men’s football team? Why is it always the men’s athletics in the spotlight? There are very few times in cinematic history that it highlights a women’s sports. There are many indications of inequity which is a big player in why men’s sports still dominate college. Starting with a definition “equity is a standard by which resources are distributed according to relative contributions” (Hebl, 227). Looking at this idea of inequity, how does this apply to sports and gender? Well institutions are going to be more likely to support a program that is prosperous, so in the sports world people are more willing to go see a men’s basketball game over a women’s basketball team. Even though title ix is enforced it doesn’t change the viewer’s preference. So going back to the first article Hebl suggest that “if ticket offices charge lower fees for entry into women’s games, they may be perpetuating differences in the perceived value associated with each team.” (227). this is a great claim made, wouldn’t you want to see the sport that has a more expensive ticket? That could equivocate to an overall better experience. Or at least that is what people believe, and why shouldn’t people. It makes sense to me that between men’s basketball and women’s basketball if the ticket is higher for the men’s game, overall it will be a better game. Hebl then says that “public’s perception of men’s and women’s sports may depend in part on the ticket price” (228). Applying this to the Waterboy there is a strong reason why it is the Waterboy and the Watergirl. With the idea of equity it explains why it is focusing on a school’s football team. Football brings in a lot of attention from consumers, not to mention the popularity of college football. And that could be what people want to see, they want to see this struggling football team and their evolution into a top tier team that takes on Louisiana University. There are plenty of examples in this movie that support the masculinity of sports. For example like I have pointed out plenty of times it is the men’s football team and that yes there is women’s athletics shown in this movie, but it is the cheerleading squad. Cheerleading is an essential part of football, usually one is not the same without the other. Like I said though, cheerleading is purely a supportive sport. The main spectacle during football is well… the football game! The cheerleaders are just there to pep up the crowd and cheer on the team with intricate and impressive stunts. Do twist my words around though, what cheerleaders do is very important and takes it takes a lot of hard work and practice to accomplish some of the stunts that they do, but in general people are not going to a college football game mainly to the cheer leaders. They are in no way pointless and useless, they help amp up the crowd and maybe even cause ticket prices to go up. They help shape the overall experience of college football and can even sway the outcome of the game. And cinematically, cheerleading has been portrayed in movies like Bring it On and Fired Up, but most of the times they are seen doing competitions that happen outside of football games.

In conclusion, my view has shifted from looking at how college’s sports could possibly socialize girls into a more supportive role, and looked at why it is a men dominated section of education. I covered the idea of how title ix has helped improve equality, but movies like The Waterboy are indicators that college sports is still focused on men’s college sports and not women’s sports. The idea of equity was brought up and that consumers could possibly be basing the value of the sport based off of the price of the ticket.

Anderson, Deborah J., John J. Cheslock, and Ronald G. Ehenburg. Gender Equity in Intercollegiate Athletics: Determinants of Title IX Compliance. Vol. 77. Ohio: Ohio state University Press, 2006. N. pag. Web. 31 Mar. 2015.

Hebl, Michelle R., Traci A. Giuliano, Eden B. King, Jennifer L. Knight, Jeanin L. Skorinko, Anjali Wig, and Jenessa R. Shapiro. "Paying the Way: The Ticket to Gender Equality in Sports." Sex Roles 51.3/4 (2004): 227-35. Web. 27 Mar. 2015. 

What to do after college?

The movie Neighbors is mainly focused on Greek life in college and the social aspect of it. Because of that, the movie hardly touches on academics in college. Most greek chapters require their members to maintain a certain GPA for them to be considered active members in the organization. The system of grade inflation helps many fraternity and sorority members to stay active in Greek life. The movie shows that college students can go to parties all the time and can still pass college courses. Grade inflation makes it easier for sorority and fraternity members to attain high grades while involving in Greek life. They don’t have to put excessive amount of efforts in school to be an active member of a Greek organization. Moreover, sorority and fraternity members can go to parties almost everyday and can still pass many classes. While the greek system strives for high academic achievement, members in Greek life only want higher grades if they don’t have to work hard for those grades. Fraternity members in the movie Neighbors have more time for drinking and partying than for studying. College students in general tend to not challenge themselves with hard work. In Neighbors, there’s a scene particularly related to this. The scene was at a job fair where Teddy was asked for his GPA from a representative from AT&T. Even though Teddy is the president of his fraternity, his GPA is higher than 2.0 but is still below 3.0. Despite the fact that Teddy is able to pass most his classes, a representative from AT&T called him dumb and stupid at the job fair. The representative demanded someone else who is better than Teddy and has a higher intellectual capacity to work for the company. Teddy would be unable to get the job position if he decided to apply for it. This scene clearly demonstrates that Teddy is definitely not prepared for the real world. He would have a hard time finding a job after graduation. He might eventually be unemployed. The movie Neighbors shows that fraternity members don't have to spend time studying or going to classes. Furthermore, fraternity members can still manage to join Greek life and to pass most classes. This is true for students outside of Greek life also. It happens in many campuses across the country. College students don’t spend their time on school work but on their social life instead. 

College students can easily get away with minimal efforts in school. In the article called “Grade Inflation: The Effects on Educational Quality and Personal Well Being” by Clifford H. Edwards, the author points out that the quality of our college education has been greatly affected by grade inflation. The quality of education should be considered a very important matter in college. The article describes that the standards of education have been lowered in expectations. Because of that, there’s a pressure on professors to lower their standards. Professors are pressured by college students and parents to give higher grades. Student evaluation on faculty members is responsible for grade inflation. Some professors would feel obligated to give higher grades due to this system. “Consequently, when schools through inflated grades promote lowered standards, students realize that what they are doing is not substantial, but they are deceived into thinking that what is expected is all that is needed. Thus students routinely perform far below their capacity…” (Edwards) This phenomenon causes students to give minimal efforts in their work so that they can have more time spending on social events. Therefore, college students don’t have to spend many hours of studying outside of class in order to do well in the class. In the article, the author also states that self-esteem is also affected by grade inflation. Students feel good for constantly getting high grades in their classes. College students are now received more A’s than ever before. As a result, students reward themselves by going out more often. They don’t concentrate much on the quality of college education. Grade inflation boosts up their confidence. It is misleading for students to think they are prepared for the real world. “Grade inflation has the potential for undermining the traditional purposes of the university, altering student-instructor relationships, eliminating the gatekeeping role of the university, and failing to adequately prepare students for the world of work.” (Edwards) The lack of proper training would lead to future employees to not be able to efficiently perform tasks required for their jobs. In my opinion, grade inflation is in fact an issue in our education system. Students should focus less on memorizing facts just to do well on tests. “The emphasis on self-esteem and its companion grade inflation have created conditions in schools where students no longer have to meet challenges, overcome frustration, or demonstrate persistence in order to be successful.” (Edwards) This article also describes many factors contributed to grade inflation. In addition, the article suggests some solutions for this issue. Another article related to this topic is called “Education Programs Are Said to Dole Out Too Many Easy A’s” by National Council on Teacher Quality. According to the article, the coursework of education students is easier than students in other departments. “Are teacher-training programs rigorous enough?” (Chronicle Of Higher Education) This question was asked in the article in order to raise the awareness of the quality of education programs. More education students graduate with honors degree compared to students in different departments. The teacher-training programs are being questioned on their quality. Students might not be prepared for the real job after graduation. The National Council of Teacher Quality argues for a more objective curriculum as a solution. The article describes that improvements need to be made on training programs. In my opinion, grade inflation affects college students in every department. Education department isn’t the only department that is affected by grade inflation. College education is supposed to prepare students for life after graduation. College students are supposed to receive an education that will be beneficial to them. Grade inflation makes it difficult for college students to be successful after graduation. 

Citations:

1. "Education Programs Are Said To Dole Out Too Many Easy A's." Chronicle Of Higher Education 61.12 (2014): A17. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Mar. 2015.
2. Edwards, Clifford H. "Grade Inflation: the Effects on Educational Quality and Personal Well Being." Education. 120.3 (2000). Print.

                                                      Do Par-tiers get worst grades?

 The one article I found that pertains to my topic is “Partying and the Mysteries of Student Culture” by William Nichols. College education is effected by so many things including partying and the student culture/social life. Nichols is an English teacher at Denison University. My topic is how does student culture or social life affect their school work/grades? In the article, he was told to go around campus at 2 a.m. in the morning and see all the students who are drunk and walking around. Now, he see’s why his classes are acting slow in the morning and sees what is affecting them in the classroom. Nichols said that he gave an assignment about partying to his students and most of them referred to parties as “Raging.”(Nichols) Also, he says that he has longed to understand the culture of partying because it seems to be in conflict with nearly everything I want to accomplish in the classroom. 

     He also says that partying is tearing the academic community down. Partying is a thing that every college student goes through, kind of like a stage (Nichols). It does tear the academic community down because the partying makes student not want to attend class because of laziness or sickness from partying. They spend all of their time partying and no time studying or doing their assignments. It really affects a student’s grades and gpa from just one semester of partying and not taking college seriously. Partying increases and studying decreases. Also, lack of sleep can hurt the body and when they attend class the next day, they cannot concentrate on the class because of the lack of sleep. If the students want to party then they better be able to maintain their attendance (which is not mandatory for most classes) and also their grades. Making classes mandatory will more than likely increase our graduation rate. It will keep the ones that actually want to be at college and the ones that party (think of college of a way to get away from their parents) will get kicked out.
When I first seen this article I did not think it would really connect with my topic, so I changed my topic to give me a more ideas that I can work with. Since partying is one of the major factors that lead to failing grades and people getting kicked out, I thought I would write on that. The article I choose is based on Partying and the Mysteries of Student Culture and throughout the article he explains a lot about partying and he wants to find the meaning to it. Going to a party can be fun with out drinking but since you’re in college it’s what everyone does. No. College is a place to learn and to grow. It’s to help you in the future and is not suppose to be easy. Most people can handle the struggle of college but others seem to “drink” to not think about it. Since I have firsthand experience (obviously I am in college), I have seen many of the things that Nichols explained at the beginning of his article. I have seen the drunken students walking around on campus, students who are sick and attend class or the ones who never attend, and the party hoppers. Drinking and really mess up your college education. College education is important to be successful in life and some people just do not understand how bad they are messing up their lives.

            My second article is called “The Impact of First Drinking and Differential Association on Collegiate Drinking” and it was written by Celia C. LO. Celia first starts off explaining that drinking has always been a thing that college students do. She says that the college officials see it as the source of misconduct, academic failure, physical injuries, and even death (Celia). Drinking is one way that college students cope with being away from their parents and their parents give them that freedom and they take full advantage (Celia). When college students drink because of their freedom they are also throwing away their parents money or the organization that is funding them. When they get academic failure they could possibly be kicked out and their goes their college education for now. She says that “officials have been alarmed by recent cases of alcohol poisoning and death among college youth.” College education continues to go down as long as these students continue to party and drink. Especially binge drinking. Students drink to relieve their stress and to have a good time. Doing this often, can result in someone becoming an alcoholic. They see the need to drink all the time resulting in grades dropping and potentially getting kicked out of their university. The article is more based off of drinking and studies based off of it but when you think about drinking in the college on thing that is on your mind is their grades. They will think that their grades are showing the effects of alcohol and most of the time they are correct. She is explaining this to show evidence of it actually happening through many surveys and other documents. The audience could be toward Universities and the higher people who work there.


     Throughout my search for different things that have to do with partying and college education, I really could not find anything exactly on point but drinking is pretty close. Drinking is probably what is at every party that goes on at campus. It is something that college is known for. My inquiry is based on college education and partying and how partying can affect the education and the degree of education that the students are receiving. Students seem to do worst when they are tired and sick. Students will party all night and wake up the next morning sick as a dog. More than likely they will miss class but if they decide to go their attention is not focused on the class more or less about being sick and very tired. No one can learn in a situation like that but they will be back at it when they hear about the next party. The article explains how drinking can affect their social life, their health, and their academics. Their health will be greatly hurt if they binge drink and continue to party. They could drink too much and get alcohol poisoning and guess what? They are not in school for a couple of days. Those couple of days could have been a test that they had to pass to pass the class but they decided to get drunk and mess up their semester and gpa. I only considered the beginning of the article because it most fit my topic. The ending of the article is about a survey that was done based on drinking habits and measures of it. Also, it says that the ways people think about someone who drinks alcohol can be seen in various ways based on “how” they are drinking. Anyways, the article provided me with some information and mostly resembles the other article “Partying and the Mysteries of Student Culture.”

                The things I described in this essay is that people should not party all the time. Partying is something that they could do every once and a while but partying all the time will cause students to get bad grades or even getting kicked out. Its important that students realize that drinking is one of the worst things you can do in college. College is a place for learning and having some social activities. Students do not this about the consequences of what can come after “that night.” My film really did not go with what I am explaining here. In Drumline, there was no alcohol consumption in the movie but they rarely showed the boys actually studying. There was one part in the movie that had a party but there was no alcohol. The boys in the movie seemed to be clean.

References

William Nichols, Partying and the Mysteries of Student Culture, The Antioch Review, Vol. 51, No.4, The Glorious Essay (Autumn,1993), pp.537-550, Antioch Review, Inc.

Celia C. Lo, The Impact of First Drinking and Differential Association on Collegiate Drinking, Sociological Focus, Vol. 33, No. 3 (August, 2000), pp. 265-280, Taylor & Francis, Ltd.

Its Who I'm Around That Defines Me?

To further the work I have done on my research regarding college education and conforming to a role within the college environment, I would like to dive deeper into my claims and thesis. Focusing on linking my two articles, “Black Stereotyping in a University Population” and “Race Relations on Campus” to the film “Neighbors” starring Seth Rogen and Zac Efron. Revolving around the idea that the role you choose to play in college greatly affects how successful academically a person can be in college. Meaning for instance if a college student chooses to surround him or herself around people that take the social aspect of college and partying seriously then he or her too with adapt and conform to that lifestyle. If that person conforms to that lifestyle, he or she will mostly be spending the majority of their time drunk or under the influence of some drug partying. Causing him or her to spend less time studying with their face in the books and improving their academics. In turn effecting the outcome of his or her grades, in turn effecting that person’s college educational experience. My thesis works the same in the other direction too. Meaning if he or she surrounds themselves with people who are studious and focus most of their time studying and working on their academics, he or she will adapt and conform to that nature. Causing their academics to get better and increase their college educational experience. To support that thesis any members of the audience can watch the film “Neighbors” and identify examples of such across the board. Teddy was your average Frat Star at his University. Teddy surrounded himself with only members of his fraternity and the majority of them were busy following Teddy’s lead and partaking in the social aspects of college and fraternity life. Meaning that the crowd Teddy surrounded himself with were drinking, smoking and partying with Teddy because they all conformed to that lifestyle in college. Most of the characters within the fraternity were not that good at decision making just like Teddy. For instance Teddy was angry and instead of taking the necessary “grown up” steps needed to calm him down Teddy gets into a physical altercation and then starts throwing stuff off of the fraternity’s porch which lead to him accidentally “striking” a professor. These adolescent traits are found all over Teddy’s friend group. Regarding Garf, who clearly understood that he had a meeting with the Dean of the school regarding discipline, ate a marijuana brownie before. The decision making of the fraternity should definitely give you a hint to how most of them are doing academically. Which is absolutely terrible. Teddy’s GPA could not even get him a small internship. Teddy’s GPA was below the marker that students must have if they want to join a Greek organization on the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s campus. These examples hopefully show how conforming to a group of people/friends can affect your college educational opportunities/experiences. According to the assignment guidelines I must also counter my own claims, thesis, and arguments. So if the audience believes that my writing primarily highlights the idea that joining a fraternity will ruin your college education then that would be completely wrong. Represented in Pete, who was the Vice President of the Fraternity featured in “Neighbors” and he could definitely could be called the nerdy one. Pete spent time with the Fraternity and Pete was present during the Fraternity various shenanigans. But Pete had a wonderful GPA. Pete even minored in psychology. He was shown using a 3-D printer to mold a specific part of his body so that he could quickly get done and continue his day and get to class. While the rest on the Fraternity was left to wait for their molds to cement. He even stated “You guy should really see the type of technology we have at our disposal if you all just go to class.” Later in the film Pete is even question for missing an important Fraternity meeting because he had an interview. And that’s what makes Pete different from the rest of the Fraternity. The fact that he will put his education which is more important before the Fraternity. Pete understood that the social aspect of college, the one everyone conforms to only last for four years. That important factor is want is the flaw in my ideology of “conforming/role play” in college. When the subject realizes that he or she is only going to be able to live their lifestyle choice for the four years that they are in college. At that point the see the ultimate truth and hopefully they become able to sole focus on their personally college education because they realize that the only reason they are at college is to get a college education. Linking “Neighbors” to Let“Black Stereotyping in a University Population” and “Race Relations on Campus” I would like to change the readers focus to African Americans on college campuses dealing with the same problem discussed earlier being conforming and role playing. Being that the reader should recognize that a certain level of conforming to a “role” on a college campus could be a heck of a lot harder and that person doing so might have to deal with more hecklers if the subject is African American. Garf would be a character to focus on in the movie. Garf is an African American male in what is presumed to be an IFC Fraternity and especially due to recent events regarding an IFC fraternity SAE that certainly raise some eyebrows. On campus playing that “role” gives you the label of “that Fraternity’s black guy.” Which in turn might make that African American the butt or punching bag of most of the Fraternity’s jokes regarding race. In my articles I researched peoples views of African Americans on campus was put into a statistic and it was shown that people and most definitely Fraternity men view African Americans negatively. That can effect African Americans ability to be successful if they are constantly dodging verbal threats.

Citations:

"Race Relations on Campus" The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education No. 44 (Summer, 2004), pp. 134-135 Published: The JBHE Foundation

"Black Stereotyping in a University Population" Peter B. Wood and Michele Chesser Sociological Focus Vol. 27, No. 1 (February 1994), pp. 17-34, Published: Taylor and Francis Ltd.

Grade Inflation Strikes the Students Hard

Throughout the more recent times, there has been the issue of grade inflation. Some say that it does not exist, but others are saying, yes to the question. Within these broad standpoints are ones that are more specific such as how it effects student and faculty performance and so on. Many different standpoints could be taken on the issue of grade inflation as it related to higher education. The journals Grade Inflation: Metaphor and Reality by Richard Kamber and Mary Biggs and What is Ethical About Grade Inflation and Coursework Deflation? by Donald Larry Crumbley & Ronald E. Flinn & Kenneth J. Reichelt both claim that grade inflation is a real thing that is sweeping not only the nation, but the world as well. I believe that grade inflation is only in existence to a certain extent. Depending on which classes you take, depends on how much grade inflation has an effect on you.

In the journal written by Richard Kamber and Mary Biggs, Grade Inflation: Metaphor and Reality, it is obvious that they both have strong opinions that grade inflation is a real thing. In the journal, it is written, “…grades were rising for the same levels of student performance.” (Kamber & Biggs 31) What this quote is trying to say in more general terms is that the amount of effort needed to get a ‘B’ in earlier years (late 1900’s), would now get you an ‘A’, the result, grade inflation. In addition, the authors also state, “When B’s, for example, are awarded for what was previously C-level work, then the only way to differentiate what was previously B-level work is to award A’s to that work - which then deprives the system of its capacity to recognize A-level work.” (Kamber & Biggs 32) What this excerpt is stating is that grade inflation  is getting to the point where it is becoming impossible to determine the difference between an outstanding student (A), an above average student (B) and even an average student (C). I personally agree with this claim because now with the physical value of grades decreasing, it is harder to stand out in a crowd of resumes if all of the grades are above average. Although I do agree with this claim, I do disagree with the first claim that the grades are rising, even though students are putting in the same amount of performance. The reason why I disagree with this claim is because of my personal experiences. In my last semester as a college student, I took Calculus II and I knew that going into it, it was going to be extremely difficult to walk out of there with an ‘A’. Because of extremely hard work and effort, I was able to walk out of the class with an ‘A’. My point here is that with my hard work and only my hard work was I able to obtain the ‘A’. If I had not worked as hard as I did, then I know that I would have received a lower grade. With the higher level of performance, I was able to obtain a higher grade.

In the other journal that I analyzed, What is Ethical About Grade Inflation and Coursework Deflation? by Donald Larry Crumbley & Ronald E. Flinn & Kenneth J. Reichelt, grade inflation was still the main point, but the authors added a twist. In their journal, they questioned the validity of the student evaluation of teaching (SET). What this is supposed to measure learning and teaching. Unfortunately, the widely used system looks like it has backfired rather dramatically. What is claimed in the article is that, “[These] SET scores are as much an expression of customer satisfaction rather than anything approaching meaningful, valid, and reliable measures of what a student actually learns in a college class.” (Crumbley, Flinn & Reichelt 188) This quote is saying, in the simplest terms, that the SET system is turning into a complete failure and is turning into more of how the teacher was rather than what was learned from the teacher. I agree with this statement because if you just take a quick look around websites like ratemyprofessor.com, then you will understand what this previous statement means. When you look at the bad reviews on the website, almost all of them have one thing in common, they all say something like, “Too much work,” or “The course was too demanding.” Both of these comments are more about what they did not like about the class, not what they learned. In addition, the journal goes on further to state that students are, “…consumers purchasing education and grades as a commodity,” believe that, “Hard work outside the classroom should not be a requirement,” and that, “Teachers should be entertainers.” (Crumbley, Flinn & Reichelt 188) In other words, students know that they need to get a higher-level education, but the problem is that they do not want to work for it but rather buy it. I disagree with his statement because in my own experiences, when I go to my classes, I make sure that I am paying attention to what the professor is saying because I know that I am paying a good deal of money for my education and I do not want it to go to waste.

Both of the journals, Grade Inflation: Metaphor and Reality by Richard Kamber and Mary Biggs and What is Ethical About Grade Inflation and Coursework Deflation? by Donald Larry Crumbley & Ronald E. Flinn & Kenneth J. Reichelt, in my opinion, have ideas that I would agree with, but also others that would make me disagree and believe that the idea of grade inflation is fake and phony. This big fault in the higher education system has not been in place for a long time, but in history that is more recent. In addition, the general idea of grade inflation is still on the front lines of debate from local levels all the way up to the federal level. We all know that the issue is well known, but the problem is trying to contain it, and I believe that grade inflation is only true to a certain extent, depending on which classes you take and where.

 

References:

 

Crumbley, Donald Larry, Ronald E. Flinn, and Kenneth J. Reichelt. "What Is Ethical About Grade Inflation And Coursework Deflation?." Journal Of Academic Ethics 8.3 (2010): 187-197. Education Research Complete. Web. 31 Mar. 2015.

 

Kamber, Richard, and Mary Biggs. "Grade Inflation: Metaphor and Reality." The Journal of Education Vol. 184.No. 1 (2003): Pp. 31-37. Web. 31 Mar. 2015.

The Waterboy and Gender Roles in Terms of College Sports

College movies tend to promote the idea that men’s sports, mainly football are what defines the college’s reputation, leaving women with more supportive sports like cheerleading. In the movie The Waterboy starring Adam Sandler I decided to take Deborah Tannen’s “How Male and Female Students use Language Differently” article and use her views of gender inequality in the educational system. Men do communicate more through physical sports and taunting whereas girls tend to sit in groups and like to use words. Tannen makes the argument that females tend to stay in smaller groups and share intimate and personal bonding time which helps strengthen their bond as friends. Being a guy I can only believe what I see and read because I do not have firsthand experience, but I can agree that the majority of females that I am friends with or have seen do prefer to hang out with their own sex. While they are talking they are more passive and far less aggressive than guys are when they are together. Going back to Tannens claim that men tend to keep too far less communication with words and more physical activity is completely highlighted by this movie. The scene that I chose to look at is when Bobby Boucher is at one of his first football practices with his new team The Mud Dawgs at South Central Louisiana University. In this scene the coach is trying to bring out the anger Bobby had when he tackled one of the Mud Dawgs after he was taunted. Bobby is then told that the only way that he will be able to tackle well is to visualize someone that makes him really angry and then use it to tackle. He uses this technique and it works throughout the movie.  While all this is happening the cheerleaders are all sitting in the stands talking and drinking. For most of the movie the cheerleaders don’t even cheer.  On the field though College movies portray football as the most important sport and this defines the overall ranking of the college. And of course in this movie as in most college sports movies the team is the male football team. This could masculinize collegiate sports because it discourages women from wanting to pursue a college sports team, but instead will join a more supportive role. This role was shown in the movie is the cheerleading team even if it was a poor example. Now off course this movie has outliers in it as far as all females fitting in with what Tannen believes how girls communicate. Characters like Vickie Vallencourt and Bobby’s mother are very strong females who aren’t scared to get aggressive and role with the big dogs. However these strong females do differ from the strong males in the movie. When Momma needs to be dominant she is not afraid to say what she needs to say even if sometimes it can wreck others’ lives, what I am trying to get at with this is that the strong woman in this move are more verbal than physical, they used their words first to try to fix a problem then resorted to being physical which Vickie has no problem with. Moving on, while the men are headlining the show the girls are off on the sideline sitting around talking and getting wasted. When viewers at home see this they begin to think and accept the idea that men’s football is the headliner and that cheerleading is the only sport worth it for a girl to pursue in college because movies rarely show any other female sports. Leading to my question which is, when did the norm for girls or at least girls in movies be to become the supportive role while the man is scoring the points and in the spotlight.  

22 Jump Street and Speech Patterns

In the modern classroom, there is said to be speech habit differences between males and females. It is said in an article written by Deborah Tannen called, “How Male and Female Students Use Language Differently,” and it is widely known. The article goes into showing, with her personal experiments, that in today’s classroom, males express themselves in a different way than women and that as a result, the modern classroom setting can be labeled as ”unfair” because women tend to not express themselves as much or as fluently as the males do. In a movie that I am analyzing called, 22 Jump Street, there is a scene, which the claims in Tannen’s article comes to life. In the scene, two of the main characters, Maya and Schmidt are sitting on a bench together in the sculpture park on the MC State campus. Maya and Schmidt begin to talk out personal things such as their majors. Since Schmidt is a poetry major and Maya is an art major, they joke about not being able to go anywhere in their lives, financially and not having real jobs. This part of the scene can be related to Deborah Tannen’s article because being in only a group of two, Maya feels comfortable joking around expressing herself, in a way that, according to Tannen, she would not do in a larger group setting. Since they are sitting in front of a sculpture that looks like two eggs leaning on each other, Schmidt asks what Maya thinks about the sculpture. Maya answers with an in-depth analysis of what she understands the sculpture to be. She began by explaining that it was 2 beings, leaning up against each other in perfect balance and it one were to fall, they would just lose each other, so she says that it is just about support. Then Schmidt, being a normal teenage male said, “You can’t admit that it looks just like giant testicles?” Going along, Maya then said, “That’s exactly what it looks like.” This part of the scene, even though it does not relate to Tannen’s article, it is obvious that Schmidt does not care about what he says, he does not have much of a filter, but this act is what makes males different from females in speech. Women tend to think more about what they are going to say before they say it and males, not so much. Maya then begins to speak in a more personal way, she explains to Schmidt that she loves to be alone and in peace. Now Schmidt is trying to go along by saying that he too loves to be alone. Maya tells Schmidt that she is going to go and hang out with people if he wanted to come. Schmidt replied by saying okay repeatedly. At the end of the scene, when Maya begins to speak about liking to be alone, this is a perfect example of what Tannen sees as the representation of a woman. Speaking about personal things is something that is generally done in a small group and according to Tannen, women send to come out of their shell when they are in small groups and that is what Maya was doing at the end of the scene. Based on the previous analysis of men and women in their speech habits, do you believe that this is true in real life too or is it just a Hollywood representation of what male and female speech habits are like?

Gender roles

Deborah Tannen’s article “How Male and Female Students Use Language Differently” points out the difference between male and female students in a college classroom. In Tannen’s opinion, male and female students use language differently. Males become best friends by hanging out and doing things with each other. Females form the bond by sharing their secrets. According to Tannen, males also tend to like challenge and argument more so than females. Males are stereotyped as tough, irrational, and violent. Females are usually relying on the males to take charge. In the movie Neighbors, there are some representations of gender stereotypes. Like most college movies, women are underrepresented in those movies. There is a lack of strong female lead characters in this movie. Despite that, the movie gives Kelly (Rose Byrne) something more to do than being the supporting wife to the husband. In addition, despite the usual portrayal of gender roles, Kelly usually is the one to take the initiative to make plans to destroy the fraternity. There is a particular scene in the movie where Mac, Kelly and their friends try to infiltrate the party. They want to break the fraternity by making Teddy and Pete fight over Brooke. The group want Teddy to see Brooke and Pete hooking up. This scene presents Kelly as a strong female lead. Kelly is the leader of the group. She shows her domination by telling each members of the group what to do. In contrast, Mac doesn’t have a plan. He has to follow his wife’s lead. Kelly is more rational than her husband. The group is able to get Pete and Brooke to hook up. They manage to stir up conflict between the two fraternity brothers. As a result of the plan, Teddy found out and got mad at Pete. Pete tries to apologize at first but then they eventually fight each other. The fight starts almost immediately when Teddy sees Pete. Teddy wants to show Pete his domination. They use violence to solve the conflict. In Neighbors, as a male and as the president of the fraternity, Teddy likes challenges. He does everything he can to assert powers. Teddy fits into the typical gender stereotypes. Moreover, Tannen claims that males like challenges more so than females. This is true for Teddy’s character. Teddy wants to fight Pete for sleeping with his girlfriend. Mac’s character also fits into Tannen’s claim. Mac wants to appear as a tough guy. Mac and Teddy fight each other later on in the movie at the biggest frat party of the year. In Neighbors, we see the guys fight but not any girls fight. This shows that males like to take control. It relates to college education and the interaction between male and female students in college. Male students tend to dominate the class discussion. In my opinion, the movie Neighbors did a pretty good job in giving more power to the female lead. I liked that Kelly’s character isn’t just there to support the males. 

"My Father was not there for me"

                Through out my childhood and until now I have seen lots of stereotypes, whether it was at school or just around my town. Stereotypes are portrayed in movies and through social media each and every day but sense everyone is use to them, no one really notices. Bits and piece of race and gender based stereotypes will be thrown in different movies every so often and people just laugh and giggle when they see it. Tatum talks about how blacks and other races seem to segregate themselves from each other and she also said that if the blacks gain achievements in their earlier years that they will want to continue to learn.

               In the movie Drumline, there are many scenes that I could explain about racism/gender and their stereotypes, but there was one scene that really caught my eye because I see it almost every day. The scene I am referring to is the scene right after Devin Miles graduates and leaves from his mother at the school to go to the subway to talk to his father. He arrives at the subway and slides a ticket to the guy inside of the ticket box. The guy sees it looks up at Devin and just stares at him. Devin begins to tell him how he has made it through high school without him and how he has got a full scholarship to the A&T College. After that, they stare at each other but Devin has an aggravated and is very tense while his dad has a sad and lost look on his face. This scene shows one of the biggest stereotypes based on race that is seen today. The fact that the “black boy” not having a dad is what is displayed in this scene. When you think of someone that does not have a daddy and is black, you think that he does poorly in school and that he would never make it to college. But in this scene it is twisting the stereotype to correct what it is causing. Devin is going to college and has made it through high school. College education would be considered impossible to someone like Devin. Since Devin does not have a father then Universities would give him more money to attend the school. It would open him up to more opportunities for college. Also, it can be gender based because people assume that a black female has a father but a black male does not. Why does it seem to appear this way? I do not see the difference, why can’t they both have dads? The media takes many stereotypes and places them all throughout movies and all over the internet. In his earlier years maybe he won some achievements and wanted to continue and he started to play the drums and he wanted to continue on. Tatum said that “In the black’s younger years if they gain some achievements then they probably continue to pursue something.

Garfield Loves Lasagna

As an African-American young man, individually I connected with Beverley Daniel Tatum’s writing in “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria.” Beverley Tatum’s claim falls most in line with my own individual claims. Beverley Tatum’s claim being more generalized would be worded that “one that has conformed to one group does not favor interacting with any other group, due to the fact that that action is so uncommon.” In order to connect Beverley Tatum’s claim to the movie I earlier analyzed Neighbors I must first identify the groups/cliques that are formed within the movie. The most identifiable group in Neighbors would of course be the Fraternity, Delta Psi Beta. This group would be identified by their general stereotypes, just as all groups have been stereotyped throughout history.  The breakdown of this group is most challenging due to the fact that you would most likely focus on the racial point of view of Fraternity being mostly Caucasians. But Neighbors did help hide that opinion by inserting characters like Jerrod Carmichael’s character Garf and every now and then inserting a non-Caucasian extra into scenes. Before diving deeper into the assignment I would like to shine a light back on the character Garf. He can be labeled as “the black guy” in the fraternity and if you disagree that would be your own opinion.  Garf is a character that is used for comic relief that could be due to the fact that he is black. Garf can be compared to Will Smith in Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The character is used to lighten the mood. Which could show that the African-American role in Neighbors cannot be a serious one. My personal opinion of such could be trump but that fact that Neighbors is a comedy so why not have a comedic role.

The Fraternity group is one that is rowdy and obnoxious but what more can you expect from a group of adolescent males. The second group has to contain the main character played but Seth Rogen, who would most likely be joined by his wife. The two groups spend a lot of time throw hate in each other’s direction throughout that movie. Each group preformed acts that would hurt or cripple the other group simply because they didn’t get along. The last two sentences could be inserted into a paper about any two opposing groups because that plot is so universal. Two groups that hate each other try to gain an upper hand on the other. I watched this simple plot unfold as a child while watching Saturday morning cartoons. One scene in which Tatum’s claims are challenged is when the Radners go inside the Delta Pi Beta house and begin to cohabitate with one another at a party. Both groups drink and have a grand time with one another although the peaceful time doesn’t last for too long.  

These are the best years of your life

     What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of college? Is it the excessive amounts of alcohol and drug use? The lack of an academic environment? Or maybe that the athletes spend more time on the field than in a library. All these things are perpetuated by movies like 22 Jump Street, The Waterboy, Neighbors, and Drumline. Now don’t get me wrong, these movies mean well and the majority of these are comedies so of course some aspects of college are under the limelight while others are left in the dark. We as a group have a well-rounded list of movies about college, covering Greek life, scholarships, athletics, and of course the ideal college parties. In his blog post we will read through each of the team’s member's movies and the analysis they made about it. Let us start with Nick's movie analysis on the movie The Waterboy.

The movie I chose to do for my rhetorical analysis is The Water Boy starring Adam Sandler. The reason why I decided to use this movie for this essay is because The Water Boy is one of my all-time favorite movies and it will always be a household movie in my family. In this rhetorical analysis I will bring up the topic of the need for higher education, the idea that a well-developed athletics department makes the college, and that stereotypes about college can also be based off of the location that the school is from.

     In the 1998 sports comedy starring Adam Sandler, we take a look at a socially awkward and inept water boy who provides his hydration services to the Louisiana University football team, which is not to be confused with the real LSU. He is then fired because of his inadequacy and is forced to find a new job all the while living at home with his imposing and over protective mother. He then is granted a job as SCLSU’s new waterboy and then shows his superhuman ability to tackle, and is then enrolled in the university and is a key member on the team. The movie then goes on to show his personal development as an athlete and helps pull the Mud Dogs out of the dirt and into the spotlight. After a few bumps in the road, Bobby Boucher (Sandler) finds that being in college is what he needed in life and having friends and a love life helped him become more independent and contributed to his self-growth. In the end he finally confronts his overly protective mom about his new found independence and she finally caves in and gives him the freedom that he wants. One of the main purposes of this film is to show that college is a place where people do find their independence and start to shape their own ideas. For example, when Bobby Boucher is in his Biology class and he is wrong about why gators are so "ornery", his whole life he has believed everything his mother has told him and now all that is being questioned. Moving on to the audience, this movie was intended for any type of viewer who enjoys any of Adam Sandler’s movies, but if you want to go deeper and think more abstractly about it you could say that the audience that is intended for this movie is anyone who is having second thoughts about college, or is too afraid a big life choice like going to college. This movie is also filled to the brim with stereotypes, from the Cajun soaked accents, the riding of tractors to school, and the fact that Bobby Boucher lives in the bayou, it is clear to see that geographical and cultural stereotypes took a beating in this movie. Now of course these stereotypes are completely exaggerated, no Cajun would invite their guest over to eat baby’s alligator and snake, and the desert which is bayou frog cupcakes, but it is a comedy and it does bring some good points into the spotlight. Like for example South Central Louisiana State University is a state recognized university in the movie, but because of their awful athletics department this school is ranked very low, which makes people from other parts of the state not want to go there for college. Creating a local college were the nearby Cajuns can go to school and bring their own culture with them. So because of this strong cultural influence many of the campus’s aspect have some type of Cajun touch to them. Like their name being the Mud Dogs and the very satirical professor who resembles colonel Sanders. Even the parties that Bobby goes to in college have Cajun influence, one in which he brings frog cupcakes too, and the other that is actually in the middle of the bayou. This movie was hard to compare to normal college though because of this, I myself have been to Lafayette where this fake college was located, and the actual university; University of Louisiana at Lafayette may be in a similar area but it is by no means anywhere close to how it is depicted in the movie. Many students come from all around to go to ULL and are greeted with good food, music, and people who are more than glad to immerse you into the Cajun culture. So even though the stereotypes about college in the movie are more regional stereotypes based off of the strong Cajun culture in southern Louisiana, it goes to show that they can carry over into everyday college life.

Unlike other movies made about college I do not even think it mentions anything about Greek life, but it does focus on the athletics and the belief that athletics make the school. With a claim like this you could use real life examples. At one end you have schools like LSU, Ole Miss, and UNC-Chapel Hill who are known for their athletics and this creates a large fan base. This fan base ends up with their first choices being those schools. On the other end you have schools like UNCC who have recently added a football team to their athletics but we have always had a large student population regardless. So what really attracts students to a school? For some, yes athletics is the best advertisement. Regardless this movie helps proliferate the claim.  

The next two students; Giao and Julian both viewed the movie Neighbors and both brought up some very interesting ideas and stereotypes about Greek life and the many factors that go into it. Let's look at their analysis to learn more about the movie. 

The media has helped to create expectations for what it should be and what it will be like going to college and joining Greek life. The movie Neighbors (2014) is clearly an example of that. It is heavily influenced by fraternity stereotypes. The movie is an R-rated comedy starring Seth Rogen and Zac Efron. The film is mainly revolving around wild frat parties, binge drinking, and use of drugs and hazing. The main purpose of the movie is meant to entertain its audience. However, Neighbors has delivered an important message about brotherhood and friendship in college.

The movie shows how Mac (Seth Rogen) and his wife Kelly (Rose Byrne) struggle trying to live next to a frat house with constant parties every night. Their family has to deal with loud noises and constant pranks from the brothers of Delta Psi Beta. This describes the most common stereotype about Greek life. The only reason to join Greek life is to party and drink alcohol every day. Of course this isn’t entirely true in reality except maybe in one or two chapters somewhere. In the movie, a pledge tells Mac and his wife that he is rather follow what his fraternity brothers say and be in the fraternity than to be a loner. This is another stereotype that Neighbors has pointed out. People seek acceptance in going Greek. Joining Greek life and earning a bid from the fraternity are a way to boost up one’s social status. Because the competition for bids is competitive, one has to do everything it takes to gain that invitation. Most college movies want everyone to think that college is a big wild party, with tons of alcohol and having fun with no to little consequences. In real life, however, consequences come up quite often when members of the fraternity follow those movies. Hazing is an issue that movie has brought up.  

Hazing is another topic that is brought up and highlighted throughout Neighbors with the characters that were constantly wearing the pink football jerseys and the scenes that included Teddy’s favorite pledge played by Craig Roberts with the character name of A**juice. In the Scenes the audience can see how the fraternity was forcing A**juice to do task that were utterly disgusting and immature. In the middle of the movie the audience is exposed to the infamous “Elephant Walk” which every potential new member of a fraternity fears. The Elephant Walk is honestly and entirely something I’d rather not go into detail with but upon curiosity and reader of my analysis is more than welcome to research the topic and cringe at their new found discovery. But the fact of the matter is hazing in its entirety is illegal and does not happen and would never happen at the level it is displayed in Neighbors. Hazing like that would most definitely result in suspensions, arrest, and a removal of the fraternity for that schools campus which to fraternities is equal to the death penalty. A punishment that absolutely none of them would risk. I can even support my statements made in the fact that the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Greek Organizations Department “does not play that s***” hazing would result in an immediate expulsion and has happened to countless fraternities on campus in the past.

Fraternities are seen as dumb, and in that case do not attend class. In Neighbors Teddy has a GPA below a 2.0 and never attends class. Universities across the nation would not stand. Colleges have a necessary GPA you must maintain while you are active in a Greek organization and Teddy being the President of one helps me highlight how this Hollywood stereotypes is an absolute fantasy. College education in Neighbors is viewed as a joke. Even within the movie the scenes in the Dean’s office do not help reduce the stereotype at all. When Mr. and Mrs. Radner attempt to complain to the Dean for help to move the fraternity from the neighborhood. The Dean claims she only cares about headlines and if they are not negative towards the university she does not care. Which is entirely untrue in this day and age. Pete the “smart one” out of the fraternity is the only one who is shown going to class. The fraternity views education as a joke being that not many members in the fraternity seem well educated. Pete actually misses an important meeting regarding the fraternity’s future on the school’s campus and he chooses to attend a job interview instead of coming to the meeting with the Dean. The same meeting that one of the brother choose to attend under the influence of marijuana. Pete shows that with self-discipline anyone in a fraternity can work to still succeed in class.

Regardless of the negative Greek life stereotypes, the movie has highlighted the great brotherhood in Delta Psi Beta especially the friendship beyond the fraternity between Teddy and Pete. Right before the cops show up at the frat party, Teddy forces Pete to leave because he wants to take the responsibility. Moreover, he doesn’t want to ruin Pete’s future. If the cops arrest Pete, he then would lose everything that he has worked for. All his hard work, internship, and mock interviews would be a waste. Teddy understand and doesn’t want that to happen to his one and only true friend. They look out for each other not only because they are brothers in the same fraternity but because they have formed a close friendship over time. This proves that friendship is very important in college. 

This next analysis is from Richard and it is about the movie 22 Jumpsteet which covers a whole different array of college stereotypes and problems people would face in a college setting.

The film, 22 Jump Street, does not seem like it would be one about college, but after looking past the title, it was obvious that college education and college live is a large part of the film. Officers Schmidt and Jenko are put on a mission by Captain Dickson to get rid of a new drug that has shown up in a local college, MC University. They go to the college and pose as new freshmen to complete an investigation and ultimately put an end to this new drug. The genre of this film is not only a comedy, but also an action movie. The target audience, as I saw it, are college students and those who are just looking for a good laugh. The attitude of students tends to vary from college to college. Depending on the merit of the student, there is usually a difference in attitude both positive as well as negative. From the class setting in the previous paragraph, the officer asked the person behind him if he had a football in his hand, and the person responded, “No, it’s a laptop, you see? Yes, it is a football.” This is one possible attitude of college students, joking around and being somewhat of a bully. In another scene, where the other officer is sitting next to a girl he had previously met, they are talking about their life to each other and are in more of a romantic and calm setting, just sitting out near the sculptures and admiring them.

When many think of college education, they think of professors and large classrooms/lecture halls. According to the movie, this is true and is conclusive to the predictions of many. The scene in the movie is where one of the officers in sitting in the class setting and trying to be a part of the class, which given its size, is not an easy task to accomplish. I believe that in a larger class setting, as the one in the film, gives you a harder time of getting to know each other and being able to respect each other. The fact that in the scene, the professor already knew the students names during the first week of class is highly unlikely and not representative of the actual class setting.

Overall, this movie was only able to accurately depict college education, life and students to a certain degree. It is impossible for you to be able to get a consensus of what all colleges are going to be like. Some colleges are more on the extreme ends, such as continuous partying, while others tend to stay away from things like that. As for college students, on almost any campus, it is likely that there is going to be someone who has to be that person, one who bullies and one who is affectionate. In addition, the college classrooms always are going to vary in size, from large to small in almost any size college. Finally, being that this film was both a comedy and action movie put into one, it made it interesting and fun to learn about college life as it is seen in the eyes of Hollywood.

Lastly we look at a whole other aspect of college that has not been touched at all. Things like scholarships, academics, and extra-curricular activities are what Nathan has covered after viewing the movie Drumline.

     In most college movies the only thing that is being portrayed is partying or studying but in fact there are other sides to college than that. Other sides include cheerleading, marching band, clubs, and other activities. The marching band was what convinced me to do my project on the movie “Drumline.” The marching band is a side of college that is rarely ever shown in these movies. It is more or less about partying/fraternities and sororities. Some of these movies are American Pie and Animal House that are exactly what I am talking about. If you think about it I think that Drumline is the only movie that is based off of the marching band specifically percussion.

            In the movie, Devin Miles (Nick Cannon) is the main character that has just graduated high school is a very talented street drummer from Harlem. He gets a full ride to the A&T College to play as a drummer in the marching band. The audition for the marching band is held at the A&T College in Atlanta Georgia. He goes through the preseason and then gets P1 which is the highest level player and being a freshman that is a big deal. He starts off college very well with the first chair and having a girl on his side which is a dancer for the college as well. But, Dr. Lee pushes him back to P4 because Devon can’t read music. Later, Devon is put back at P1 but soon after that at the homecoming game Devon plays on the opposing teams drum and gets kicked off the band. Devon gets a scholarship to play at A&T’s rival school but declines it. Later, he gets put back on the band and faces off at the Classic. They do their performance and A&T is awarded the win. The main message that it is try to give is that raw talent can be molded into discipline success.

            When people hear about a marching band playing they don’t get too excited but if you turn Drumline on they will be glued to their seats. In Drumline, the drumline is exaggerated a lot but at some universities they do take their marching band serious, more than others. In the movie they do a lot of tricks and fancy moves to get people’s attention but personally I have never seen that happen. Also, there is a preseason thing that everyone on the marching band has to go to before they can audition for their place on the drum line. As hard as the work in the movie at preseason seems pretty exaggerated because they are doing the same workouts as the football team would be doing. In the movie, there are barely any football scenes being played when usually football is watched more than the band would be. The movie is set in a college scene but it is mostly on the field. They practice on the field, they do competitions on the field, and they had their homecoming on the field. Some of the side scene is at parties and at the university itself. There was some partying going on but it is not like the partying like other movies portray. This movie is not showing college as being all about partying or all about fraternities or sororities it is showing that college can be a good place that does not involve alcohol or drugs but a place to enjoy yourself.

            Since many people have never seen the side of college like this before it was amazing what they were missing. The movements of the drums and the way they tend to play on the opposing teams drums. It’s like they are just trying to piss them off. The intensity of the battle between the two bands is very tense. You can just feel the tension between the teams. The expressions on their faces and the way they play the music. They want to win and they want to win with all that they have got. There was a fight scene in the movie and also there were single battles between two band members from different teams. The creativeness that the teams show through their skills during their competitions is very real. They show a lot of love and heart in what they do and what they play. I use to play percussion myself and I find it very easy to let your heart play through your hands. Also, you can see through the movie that even though Devon was told to play a solo during the halftime, he never got nervous he just played. It just shows that when you have your heart in something nothing can change it. He started from playing in the streets to being the champion. Also, when he talks to the rival school and they offer him a very good scholarship but instead he stays with the school he started with. He doesn’t quit and he doesn’t keep a grudge on the team because he cannot play.

            Overall with these movies I think that our group has more to compare and contrast. Starting with the Waterboy and how if barely touches base with parties and does not even bring anything up about Greek life, then to the movie Neighbors where it is completely focused around fraternities and the stereotypical “frat boy”. And then there is 22 Jump Street which is similar to Neighbors when it comes to the college party scene, but has a way deeper focus on it. And lastly the movie Drumline brings up the idea of raw talent and how higher education can shape it into something way greater, and it also sheds some light on the admittance process and how important it is.