This last weekend, as everyone probably knows, was State Patty's Day. With all of the anti-State Patty's press over the last week, you would think that Penn State would just keep up with the sentiment. However, instead of merely ignoring or discouraging the feast of State Patrick, Penn State charged event price parking. So, in effect, the university said that State Patty's was a football weekend. With all of the attempts to kill the unofficial student holiday, the school decided that it was appropriate to cash in on the opportunity. This is a showing of conflicting rhetoric. Which way should we view State Patty's Day? Should we see it as the "event" that the university shows it is through their parking prices or the out of control drinking holiday that they try to force upon the students? Penn State demonstrates a failure of rhetoric that gives students two different ideas of the way that they should respond to the idea of State Patty’s Day next year. The constant intimidation that we saw through all of the Daily Collegian articles has been compromised by a menial showing of greed from the university. The simple charging of a few extra dollars for a parking ticket sends a message that is tough to ignore, especially if you are a proponent of the fake holiday. Whether you participate in the festivities on State Patty’s or not, it is easy to see why the fake holiday would continue based off of the mixed messages sent by the Penn State hierarchy.
Not to like burst the rhetorical bubble by providing extra information...but I feel like half of it has to do with the amount of people that come out of town. So, right now, it may be just a money maker. But maybe next year some students will remember how they paid a ton of money to park at Penn State for the weekend. Don't me wrong, I am continually disgusted at the way Penn State finds a way to make money off of absolutely everything. But maybe, just maybe, this will start to make a dent in the outrageously high number of people that invade our town State Patty's day weekend.
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point, but I also have to see this from the university's perspective. State Patty's is not going anywhere, so why shouldn't they make a profit? It's the best thing that they could do while still hoping their warnings prevent a couple stupid decisions...
ReplyDeleteI think this sort of linked up to the idea that any publicity is good publicity. While Penn State tries to crack down on drinking and our party image, the fact is that a much higher number of kids than one might expect are very much drawn as students here for that precise reason. And more students means more tuition money for the school. It seems money can put a lot of people at ease about apparent contradictions
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