1. Opening Scene
-I will start with the scene I described in my last blog, with the kids outside East Halls smoking hookah together.
-Outside of East Halls, six people are smoking hookah that is laced with marijuana. There are seven guys and girls, all laughing together and enjoying the cool night. They pass around the four pipes, sharing with one another. I hear them talking about how it is laced with tobacco to cover up the smell of pot. From what I can hear, it sounds like the mixture tastes like tobacco but works at getting you high like marijuana. A girl complains about the smoke tasting like a cigarette instead of like weed. One guy starts up about having to clean out the hookah, and they all laugh. The group argues over what is better: smoking out of a hookah or smoking out of a bong. Apparently the weed burns too fast in a hookah for their liking. Someone else begins to groan about how they would rather have their money be used for smoking out of a pipe or a bong rather than out of a hookah.
2. Illustrative quote that will conclude your scene
-I may use the quote from my friend where she says, "We put a fan in each window and a towel at the bottom of the door and a plastic bag over the smoke detector." This could describe how easy smoking marijuana could potentially be and may be used to grab the audience's attention.
3. Nut Graph: This is where you have to tell me what you are writing about, why it's interesting, and why I should care.
-I am writing about usage of marijuana among students at Penn State. I personally find it extremely risky and nerve-racking, so I find it interesting how people can do it so easily and have such a carefree attitude about it.
4. Background: Give your issue/subject context. Let me know how this issue started.
-I will discuss, in a general way, marijuana's prevalence among first year college students by using some research statistics that I have found online.
-I will list several possible reasons for why pot use is popular among college students.
^Kim, a first year student who lives in my building, says “pot is used widely among first year students at Penn State. It’s surprising to me that it’s used not only on weekends, but also on weeknights to alleviate the stress associated with school.”
^Interview students and ask why they think people smoke so much while away at school (no parents, stress...). Did they smoke this much at home?
^Do online research about why students smoke while away from home.
5. Supporting Information 1: Seniors/friends of RAs
-"The most common place for students to smoke would be outside at night. But, usually they want to smoke inside, and the most common place to smoke inside would be the stairwells because the whole floor doesn't end up smelling like pot."
-"If an RA smells marijuana on the floor, they will knock on the door that they suspect and are trained to immediately look and see if the smoke detector is covered by a bowl. Students can get written up for tampering with the smoke detector since it is a fire hazard." (But what are the consequences of getting written up?)
-One particular RA says that this is her third semester as a Residence Assistant and she has never caught any freshmen smoking in their dorms.
*These quotes demonstrate how the university is aware that students smoke in their dorms and the ways they try and get around being caught.
6. Supporting Information 2:
-I have an interview with Penn State University Police and I am going to ask the following questions:
1. How prevalent is marijuana use at Penn State?
2. How many people have been caught smoking so far this semester? How often are students getting busted? Are younger students or are older students more prone to getting caught?
3. How do you catch these students? Where do you find them? How often do you get calls about students smoking marijuana in the dorms (rooms, stairwells...)?
4. What are the consequences if you find a student smoking marijuana?
7. Supporting Information 3: quotes? data? anecdote? what is your point and how does it relate to the issue?
-Examples of students smoking at school:
^My friend, Simon, age 18, told me that he saw a circle of guys outside East Halls, all smoking cigarettes. After passing them, he smelled marijuana and realized that as they were all holding their cigarettes, they passed a joint around. People do it out in the open.
^My observation of people smoking in their dorm room.
-What techniques are most convenient/safe to smoke at school.
8. Conclusion: Wrap-up your story. What would you like your audience to consider as a result of reading this piece? What relevant future issue could you point to?
-As a result of reading this piece, I would like my audience to be more observant about what they see on campus. Before I arrived on campus, I feel as though I was naive and didn't think that anyone would be outrageous enough to smoke. Maybe administration will read the report and think that they need to crack down on marijuana use among students, now that they know how people are getting around the rules. Maybe RAs will check in more with their students.
I'm feeling like you a have strong start, a strong approach, and a decent focus. I say: just write it! I like the idea that your nut graph will let us know that you are not just writing about students smoking pot, but the elaborate schemes they've developed to maintain detection. Maybe use a grabbing, snazzy line like: "We equate PSU with beer bongs and keg stands. But what about real bongs and pot heads?" Then tell us that while students are getting wasted, they are also very busy getting stoned, which is even more interesting, because it's also very illegal. And your paper is gonna show us how they get away with it!
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