State Patty's... Seriously?

(In light of last weekend's events.)

State Patty's Day.

Night (and day -- or really, weekend) of freedom for hard-working Penn State students, or a stupid excuse for a drunken brawl?

Every weekend, students at Penn State go out and party. Students everywhere go out and party. When you cram 40,000 young adults into tight quarters, you're bound to reach havoc every now and then. It doesn't help that Penn State's main campus is located so close to downtown, where our 21-and-over students can legally get schnockered at the pubs, and our under-21ers can manage to get alcohol from their older friends.

Of course, not everyone participates in underage -- or even of-age -- drinking... but many do.

So why is State Patty's Day such a problem? It's just another day of partying, isn't it?

http://pennstatermag.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/statepattys1.jpg

Sure, the fact that many people get wasted on a weekend is nothing new -- but the level of destruction around downtown State College certainly doesn't help matters. Perhaps if the amount of chaos weren't so high, and the casualties of storefronts and public drunkenness were fewer, then State Patty's Day wouldn't be such a big deal. Unfortunately, it is.

Not only does State Patty's Day affect Penn State's ethos as a great university, the kairos of it doesn't really help matters, either.

It's easy for people to generalize -- sometimes, it seems to be second nature to us. I can't tell you how many family members, friends, and random people I've spoken to in the past month or so that said, "State Patty's -- don't go too crazy!" (Not, "Surely you're not doing it, right? I could imagine you doing that.") As though, since I am a Penn State student, I automatically insert myself into this havoc and actively participate and even contribute.

So when media outlets, who have already been portraying all of us Penn State students as kids taught by staff that may be entirely negligent just because of the actions of one single man, and have told all those who watch or read them that we all are rioters because the few thousand of us who went downtown, and the only several hundred of those that rioted at all, certainly represent all 40,000 of us -- when those media outlets also start spreading that we are all also public drunkenness offenders who messed with downtown storefronts and drove drunk on State Patty's Day, not only does it not help the public's view of our ethos, but it doesn't really help our own view, either.

Because repeatedly having to either justify or disassociate from State Patty's Day still connects us to it.

And especially after the absurdity of the Sandusky case in which we're still involved, and after the incredible spectacle of Thon -- kairos isn't lending itself in our favor, either.

My question to you is: what do you personally think State Patty's Day does for Penn State's ethos? And does the timing of it within this particular school year affect it at all?