Statement of Purpose
I plan to research and inform on the topic of consumption and influence of alcohol and drugs on campus. I believe not enough is being done to help keep students and other citizens safe from alcohol and drugs. Several people are affected by alcohol and drug related events. I want to try and help prevent any deaths, rapes, car accidents, DUIs, and ruined lives. I want to provide proof that more needs to be done to help prevent alcohol and drug use on campus. One of my main points is that there is a lot of alcohol and drug influence on campus. I want to include photos of alcohol and drug influences around campus such as drinking games, peer influences, and other influences. I want to include a photo of a cop and interview him and ask questions about alcohol and drug related incidents on campus. I want to interview a student and ask what they think about the alcohol and drug influence on campus and ask questions like “How much alcohol do you consume weekly?” Maybe do a poll or unanimous survey. I want to somehow show the fraternity and sorority influence on the use of alcohol by a photograph of a fraternity or sorority party. I want to provide evidence that dormitories are not doing much at all to stop the use of alcohol and drugs within the premises. I want to visit the hookah bar and take photos to provide examples of potential drug paraphernalia. Maybe I could show an example of how easy it is to obtain alcohol or a certain drug such as marijuana. I hope to provide a real life drug or alcohol related event or situation by showing a photograph of a particular scene or people. Another point in my essay is to show ways that could help prevent drug and alcohol related incidents. I could do this by taking a photograph of an above the influence advertisement, life skills, campus police, bag checks, search and seizures, or any other examples. I hope to accomplish a new outlook on the influences college students face every day. Maybe an informative program could be setup to show the effects of drugs and alcohol and show why not to participate in certain situations. I hope to bring these influences to attention and help prevent more incidents. I hope to educate students on ways to prevent incidents and prevent themselves and their friends from falling under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Hopefully students will understand the negative influences of drugs and alcohols such as the short and long term effects. I want college students to gain a new outlook on college. I want students to drop the view that college is a time to party. I want students to realize college is a place where it will make you or break you.
Photo Essay:
Alcohol and marijuana has become a major factor in colleges today. Western Kentucky is a prime example that exhibits the consumption of alcohol and marijuana among students. Even though its not openly exhibited it's still effects the majority of the students. Here are some photographs of what I found (All these photos were taken on campus except the last one which was taken right off campus).
The picture above shows an empty beer case left in the Housing parking lot right outside of Barnes-Campbell. This is a frequent sight for all students. Almost every weekend I can find empty alcohol packaging left in the parking lot. This is proof that students are drinking alcohol and possibly bringing it inside the dorm. Dorms need to start taking notice of this and take this matter seriously. Every photo in this essay was taken in or around my dorm. If dorms searched the rooms the influence of drugs and alcohol would reduce. WKU also need to be aware of bootleggers on campus. These individuals sell alcohol to minors and usually over charge to make profit. All students need to be aware of bootleggers and alcohol's influence in college and I think WKU needs to take some responsibility to make this influence aware to improve this university.
The arrangement of cups exhibits a drinking game that is played by many college students. This game is known as chandelier. The game is played by 7 to 8 players. Each player has their own personal cup in an arrangement of a circle in front of them. In the center of the circle is a cup (or a shot glass) stacked above the other cups. Each player takes turns bouncing a quarter (or ping pong ball) trying to land it in another player's cup. If the quarter (ping pong ball) lands in another player's cup he/she has to drink their alcoholic beverage and refill. If a player hits the center cup (shot glass) everyone has to chug their drink and the last one to finish their cup has to drink the center cup (shot glass). This is one of the many drinking games played among college students.
This shows an example of an alcohol advertisement displayed in a dorm room. Advertisement can greatly influence college students to consume whatever is advertised. If dorms would not allow and remove all alcohol advertisements this may help reduce the use of alcohol on campus. All students need to be aware of this advertising and influence. Most of the influence comes from the students' peers. Just about everyone has had a situation when they were offered alcohol from a peer. Alcohol can lead to other things such as drugs and drugs can lead to hardcore drugs. This can cause students to fall into a long tough journey and can risk through health and financial state. Alcohol and drugs causes all sorts of health problems. They can cause lost brain cells, cancer, liver disease, high blood pressure, depression, suicides seizures, heart failure, ruptured blood vessels, and the list keeps going. Students can also live a very poor life if they become addicted to drugs or alcohol. If they are addicted then they will do whatever it takes to get it. Most of the blame for addicts is given to peer pressure. If colleges provided an awareness program they could teach students to say no to alcohol and drugs.
The picture above and below shows examples of what college students drink. Both pictures were taken in two different rooms located in my dorm. I took a poll of random college students if they drank alcohol in the past week. 62% reported they used alcohol in the past week. I think fraternities and sororities have a big influence on college students. I have heard that a majority of the Greek life consists of drinking. I have heard some stories that pledges are forced to drink massive amounts of alcohol in order to gain respect from the fraternity. WKU and other colleges need to start cracking down on fraternities and sororities and prevent the influence of alcohol on students. From what I have witnessed most students binge drink, which is heavy episodic drinking. What some college students don't understand is that alcohol will have short and long term effects on your health, along with the opportunity of danger or death and encounters with the police.
This picture shows one way students drink beer. This way of drinking beer is called shot gunning. It is a quicker way to drink beer which plays a role in binge drinking. Binge drinking can lead to several disorders such as psychiatric disorder and alcoholism. To shotgun a beer a hole must be made at the bottom of the can. This is usually done by using car keys and as soon as the hole is made the beer must be drank from that hole as quickly as possible. The face of this individual has been blurred to protect their identity. I asked this same individual where does he purchase his alcohol. He replied, "I always get it right after work on Tuesday every week, I work with a friend that is 21 and he always buys it for me." I figured that's how most students get their alcohol, through a friend or family member, but I have heard other ways such as using fake IDs and buying from places that sell to underage customers. I also asked how much did he spend each time. He replied, "Usually about 20 bucks." I continued to ask him does this effect your grades your attendance in class. He told me that he usually does it on weekends or when he doesn't have school the next day.
"Wake up drunk go to sleep fucked up"- Wiz Khalifa
This is a prime example of how music artists affect today's college students. Many artists like Wiz Khalifa support the use of drugs (marijuana) and alcohol. Other artists that support drug and alcohol use that college students listen to are Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, LMFAO, and Gucci Man. Even though these mainstream artists are highly influential WKU could possibly encourage students to listen to other artists or a different type of music that doesn’t influence the use of drugs and alcohol. If somehow anti drug and alcohol artists became popular the influence would decrease. Some examples that WKU could do is promote a hip hop concert or any other kind of music without the drug or alcohol vibe.
The photo above displays the logo of a beer pong table. Beer pong is a drinking game that is very popular among college students. The game can be played with 2 or 4 players. If you play with 4 players then it must be teams or doubles. On each side of the ping pong table is a set of 10 cups in a shape of pyramid. Players take turn shooting ping pong balls into the opposing players' cup. If a player sinks a ball into the opposing
players' cup then they have to drink that cup and remove that cup from the table. The first player or team to clear off all of the opposing players' cups wins. There are many other rules and variations associated with this game. This game can become addicting and players don't realize how much they are drinking when playing this game which can be dangerous. WKU needs to educate students on the after effects of alcohol. Students need to realize that they are not invincible and they can die. They also need to learn not only how to protect themselves but also protect others. Students need to be taught how to prevent situations and learn what to do when presented with a bad situation. One example of this is taking your friends' keys if they are intoxicated or persuading them not to drink anymore when they have had enough to drink. This knowledge is just as important of the knowledge learned in the classroom. The knowledge of protecting their self and others.
In the photo above shows the public use of marijuana on campus. This is one way a plastic bottle can be turned into a smoking device. This device aids in the amount of smoke inhaled at one time. The way it is made is by burning two holes at the bottom of the bottle, one at the top and one on the side. The marijuana cigarette (blunt) is placed in the hole at the top and the user uses his/her thumb to cover up the hole on the side. Then the user pulls smoke from the blunt to the inside the bottle by sucking it through the mouth of the bottle. Once the bottle is filled with smoke the thumb on the side hole can be removed and the smoke can be inhaled. This device is called a bottle bong. This photo was taken right beside my dorm, approximately 6 feet from the back door, which I could not believe this individual was so close to the dorm. He told me that most people that work at the dorm do not care and basically ignore him and other marijuana smokers. The only thing that forces him out of this smoking spot is the explorers and police. Seems like this dorm in which I live in is protecting these particular students. I think western needs to evaluate who they are letting work at these dormitories. They need to get people who will prevent the use of marijuana on the proximity. This also brings to attention that western needs more explorers and police to crack down on these common smoking spots. The face of this individual has been blurred to protect their identity.
This photo displays the materials needed to get "high." All these materials can be found on campus or very close to campus and can be found easily. The first item is the actual marijuana. This can be found on campus and can be obtained through drug dealers for the right price. A gram, pictured above, usually runs around 10 to 20 dollars depending on the type of marijuana. Some examples of marijuana are mid, dro, purp, and kush. The second item is a swisher sweet. This item is referred to a “wrap” or “shell” this is used to roll a marijuana cigarette (blunt). The third item is a lighter which is used to dry the blunt after saliva is used to seal the blunt. The lighter is also used to light the blunt. I asked one particular student in my dorm how much pot do they smoke daily. He replied "usually about a gram or two, but on occasions I can smoke up to 3.5 or 4 grams a day." I asked him how much does he spend on marijuana weekly, he replied, "usually around 150 dollars." This greatly astonished me, he told me that he was unemployed and received money from his parents. I thought to myself how could his parents keep supplying money so he can go and blow it on marijuana? Even though marijuana takes up a lot of his time he stated that it does not effect his grades and attendance in class. He also told me that he was arrested on the second day he first moved down here. He was cited and paid a fine along with court fees which cost him a total of 205 dollars. He was ordered by the court to enroll in life skills, which is like a rehab center, that could last up to 12 weeks and meets twice a week. WKU needs to be aware of the influence of marjuana and learn how to prevent it.
The photo above displays pipes at the hookah bar located right next to campus. They sell everything needed to smoke marijuana such as pipes, grinders, wraps, and bongs. They have signs posted for tobacco use only but they could never tell if the customer will actually use it for tobacco and not marijuana. To prevent the use and spread of marijuana the hookah bar should be prohibited to sell materials that aid users to smoke marijuana. Students shouldn't be allowed to posses smoking aids on campus, even though they may claim it's for tobacco use only. Marijuana leads to memory loss, which causes students to lose their knowledge learned in the class which affects their grades. Prevention of marijuana would help increase students’ grades and help them concentrate on school. WKU needs to be aware of these items on campus and see them as potential drug aids.
Reflection Page
I enjoyed researching and developing my project and it did turn out the way I wanted it to. I think I informed my audience about my topic enough to where they grasped a good understanding of some influences college students face almost every day. I also think I provided enough information to persuade my audience to take my side of the argument, the argument that colleges need to do more in preventing these influences. Hopefully I made a difference in some of the readers’ (students) that will make them stand for a change and make them think about what they are doing before they do it. I think my photography was well done. I tried to find the perfect pictures and took over a hundred photos looking for the best shots to use. It was difficult on deciding which ones to use but I narrowed it down to what I think were the best. I really different order my photos into a story format, but I did group them by starting off with all alcohol photos then adding the marijuana photos last. There wasn't much I could do to make this in a story form. The main thing that surprised me was the people that allowed me to take the photographs. I though most people would reject me and be protective of their identity that could possibly get out if I hadn’t blurred the photos and make sure there was no way anybody could identify their identity. I did have to persuade to the people and explain myself why was I taking photographs. Most of them couldn’t believe I was writing an essay about marijuana and alcohol, so they thought it was cool to be included. I thought the hookah bar would for sure turn me down because of their protection and privacy of their products. They did question me and was a little sketchy about letting me take the photos but in the end they allowed me to take all the photos I needed. The most difficult part was writing and composing captions for each photo, mostly because I became stumped on most of the photos. It was a little difficult coming up with good wording to describe the drinking games and describing the photo, so I tried my best to make my audience understand the photographs. I used all information I already knew and what I learned from research to make captions. I think my essay did achieve it's purpose of informing people about the use and effects of alcohol and marijuana on campus and persuading WKU to make a change in protecting students from drugs and alcohol. Another difficult task of this photo essay was to come up to people and ask if I could take pictures of them and of their belongings. What I found out was most were friendly enough to let me do so. I learned several new things about my classmates and myself. I learned what a lot of my classmates participated in such as their social life and how friendly they were to allow me to take photos. Some new things I learned about myself were I like using a camera and taking photographs. I started to gain a respect for photographers through this essay. I realized how hard it can be to find the perfect photographs and compose captions that fit the photo. I think everyone needs to gain this respect and knowledge of photography I have gained through this essay. I also gained a better way of forming informative descriptions which will aid me as a student in the future. For the most part I had fun during this photo essay. It was a unique assignment to get me involved in the campus community. I met some new people and gain a better outlook of my topic. I learned some new things and I gain a better understanding of photography. Overall I think I did well on the photo essay especially on the photography, except I think the captions need a little more work and adjusting.
