Comments on: “Party U.” and the impoverished undergraduate vision of adulthood http://www.historiann.com/2010/01/05/party-u-and-the-impoverished-undergraduate-vision-of-adulthood/ History and sexual politics, 1492 to the present Thu, 09 Feb 2012 04:11:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: And now, from the department of the bloody obvious. . . : Historiann : History and sexual politics, 1492 to the present http://www.historiann.com/2010/01/05/party-u-and-the-impoverished-undergraduate-vision-of-adulthood/comment-page-2/#comment-810735 And now, from the department of the bloody obvious. . . : Historiann : History and sexual politics, 1492 to the present Mon, 04 Apr 2011 15:41:33 +0000 http://www.historiann.com/?p=8874#comment-810735 [...] suddenly dry up, and they’ll never have fun again.  (I’ve written here about what an impoverished view of adulthood this is, and how it saddens me.  Is it just the narciscissm of youth and the students’ inability to [...] [...] suddenly dry up, and they’ll never have fun again.  (I’ve written here about what an impoverished view of adulthood this is, and how it saddens me.  Is it just the narciscissm of youth and the students’ inability to [...]

]]> By: Historiann http://www.historiann.com/2010/01/05/party-u-and-the-impoverished-undergraduate-vision-of-adulthood/comment-page-2/#comment-536295 Historiann Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:24:48 +0000 http://www.historiann.com/?p=8874#comment-536295 Thanks for the tip! I now live in a college town where the little darlings go home to Denver on the weekends, so it's much quieter, but every couple of years a few of the kids from the high school 2 blocks away think it's funny to smash windows in my neighborhood. Thanks for the tip! I now live in a college town where the little darlings go home to Denver on the weekends, so it’s much quieter, but every couple of years a few of the kids from the high school 2 blocks away think it’s funny to smash windows in my neighborhood.

]]> By: steveeboy http://www.historiann.com/2010/01/05/party-u-and-the-impoverished-undergraduate-vision-of-adulthood/comment-page-2/#comment-536280 steveeboy Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:15:24 +0000 http://www.historiann.com/?p=8874#comment-536280 Hey just checking in... Next time there is a smashed car window do NOT sweep glass, touch glass, or anything else... You need to send the person to a gas station with an auto vacuum. Some cops taught me that once and it really works. Hey just checking in…

Next time there is a smashed car window do NOT sweep glass, touch glass, or anything else…

You need to send the person to a gas station with an auto vacuum.

Some cops taught me that once and it really works.

]]> By: Z http://www.historiann.com/2010/01/05/party-u-and-the-impoverished-undergraduate-vision-of-adulthood/comment-page-2/#comment-529591 Z Tue, 12 Jan 2010 02:42:00 +0000 http://www.historiann.com/?p=8874#comment-529591 Very interesting post and thread. I went to UC Berkeley and couldn't have afforded to be hung over, it was too academically demanding. Also, I had been taught that this was my last chance for an intellectual experience before entering a dreary marriage, so I was taking special advantage of the chance to enjoy what college truly had to offer. This idea that adulthood isn't fun is an old one. I have always heard, and I keep hearing versions of it. Very interesting post and thread. I went to UC Berkeley and couldn’t have afforded to be hung over, it was too academically demanding.

Also, I had been taught that this was my last chance for an intellectual experience before entering a dreary marriage, so I was taking special advantage of the chance to enjoy what college truly had to offer.

This idea that adulthood isn’t fun is an old one. I have always heard, and I keep hearing versions of it.

]]> By: Left of Centre http://www.historiann.com/2010/01/05/party-u-and-the-impoverished-undergraduate-vision-of-adulthood/comment-page-2/#comment-528202 Left of Centre Sun, 10 Jan 2010 04:03:52 +0000 http://www.historiann.com/?p=8874#comment-528202 <strong>Elsewhere in Alcohol Abuse...</strong> This American Life's coverage of Penn State's alcohol abuse problem has stirred up a lot of discussion in the blogsphere about Penn State's problem in particular, but also more generally about these problems in other university towns.... Elsewhere in Alcohol Abuse…

This American Life’s coverage of Penn State’s alcohol abuse problem has stirred up a lot of discussion in the blogsphere about Penn State’s problem in particular, but also more generally about these problems in other university towns….

]]> By: T http://www.historiann.com/2010/01/05/party-u-and-the-impoverished-undergraduate-vision-of-adulthood/comment-page-2/#comment-527727 T Sat, 09 Jan 2010 10:19:11 +0000 http://www.historiann.com/?p=8874#comment-527727 Paul - I think you raise an interesting point about the particularity of American laws and attitudes concerning alcohol. It makes logical sense to me that because the legal drinking age in the US is so much higher than in other countries, and because our culture is not really one in which alcohol plays a major role (though not primarily about intoxication), we seem to have a greater problem with binge-drinking among college(-aged) students than do countries with lower drinking ages, and/or a culture that includes alcohol as a feature -- France, for example. But curiously, experience this year has completely contradicted this. I'm a doctoral student in the States and was offered a free room at the dormitories in what is considered the one of the finest, most elite universities in the country, 'best and the brightest', etc. Granted, it's been years since I last lived in an undergraduate dorm, but even after four months, I am shocked at the amount of binge-drinking and ensuing rowdiness that I see (and hear...and smell...) here at all hours. Students screaming on the streets and in the dorms all night long, fire alarms pulled at 5 a.m., theft, vandalism, vomit in the hallways. Obviously, there are many differences between the American and French university systems, but the big one that seems relevant to this discussion is that these students are NOT paying (not just the big bucks, but anything!) to attend this school. They're actually BEING paid by the government to go here. So what is going on here? Paul – I think you raise an interesting point about the particularity of American laws and attitudes concerning alcohol. It makes logical sense to me that because the legal drinking age in the US is so much higher than in other countries, and because our culture is not really one in which alcohol plays a major role (though not primarily about intoxication), we seem to have a greater problem with binge-drinking among college(-aged) students than do countries with lower drinking ages, and/or a culture that includes alcohol as a feature — France, for example.

But curiously, experience this year has completely contradicted this. I’m a doctoral student in the States and was offered a free room at the dormitories in what is considered the one of the finest, most elite universities in the country, ‘best and the brightest’, etc. Granted, it’s been years since I last lived in an undergraduate dorm, but even after four months, I am shocked at the amount of binge-drinking and ensuing rowdiness that I see (and hear…and smell…) here at all hours. Students screaming on the streets and in the dorms all night long, fire alarms pulled at 5 a.m., theft, vandalism, vomit in the hallways.

Obviously, there are many differences between the American and French university systems, but the big one that seems relevant to this discussion is that these students are NOT paying (not just the big bucks, but anything!) to attend this school. They’re actually BEING paid by the government to go here. So what is going on here?

]]> By: Kathleen Lowrey http://www.historiann.com/2010/01/05/party-u-and-the-impoverished-undergraduate-vision-of-adulthood/comment-page-2/#comment-526452 Kathleen Lowrey Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:34:26 +0000 http://www.historiann.com/?p=8874#comment-526452 squadratomagico -- that is so great! squadratomagico — that is so great!

]]> By: Rad Readr http://www.historiann.com/2010/01/05/party-u-and-the-impoverished-undergraduate-vision-of-adulthood/comment-page-1/#comment-526264 Rad Readr Thu, 07 Jan 2010 05:11:23 +0000 http://www.historiann.com/?p=8874#comment-526264 The posts about Latin America remind me of the discussion about whether the 01 decade was bad. Well, that depends on who/what/when/howmuch. Yes, people in Latin America party across generations some time, but young people also have their own parties and clubs, etc. And while I wouldn't deny differences in terms of social interactions, family relationships, and drinking habits (or habituses), its all relative. No need to romanticize. There are plenty of nasty drunks in Latin America too. The posts about Latin America remind me of the discussion about whether the 01 decade was bad. Well, that depends on who/what/when/howmuch. Yes, people in Latin America party across generations some time, but young people also have their own parties and clubs, etc. And while I wouldn’t deny differences in terms of social interactions, family relationships, and drinking habits (or habituses), its all relative. No need to romanticize. There are plenty of nasty drunks in Latin America too.

]]> By: squadratomagico http://www.historiann.com/2010/01/05/party-u-and-the-impoverished-undergraduate-vision-of-adulthood/comment-page-1/#comment-526145 squadratomagico Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:44:14 +0000 http://www.historiann.com/?p=8874#comment-526145 Kathleen, it's not a moniker: I really do perform with a circus (when I'm not professing). Kathleen, it’s not a moniker: I really do perform with a circus (when I’m not professing).

]]> By: Indyanna http://www.historiann.com/2010/01/05/party-u-and-the-impoverished-undergraduate-vision-of-adulthood/comment-page-1/#comment-525922 Indyanna Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:26:38 +0000 http://www.historiann.com/?p=8874#comment-525922 @ Homostorian Americanist: One of my favorite early modern town-gown ruckuses happened in c. 1717 in Oxford-- alas, not Ohio, but one of the many "other" Oxfords. King Geo. I sent a regiment of troops, just back from the Wars of Louis XIV, to winter in that town. When the probably mainly-Jacobite students refused to "illuminate" their windows to celebrate the King's birthday, some tipsy soldiers smashed the windows in question. Next thing, the whole town was in arms and on fire. The House of Lords had to intervene to sort things out, the regiment got sent to Minorca, and its aging Colonel was packed off back to Dublin in retirement. You could look it up. This kind of thing probably goes back to the time when Plato met Aristotle, or was it when Socrates met Eumenides? @ Homostorian Americanist: One of my favorite early modern town-gown ruckuses happened in c. 1717 in Oxford– alas, not Ohio, but one of the many “other” Oxfords. King Geo. I sent a regiment of troops, just back from the Wars of Louis XIV, to winter in that town. When the probably mainly-Jacobite students refused to “illuminate” their windows to celebrate the King’s birthday, some tipsy soldiers smashed the windows in question. Next thing, the whole town was in arms and on fire. The House of Lords had to intervene to sort things out, the regiment got sent to Minorca, and its aging Colonel was packed off back to Dublin in retirement. You could look it up. This kind of thing probably goes back to the time when Plato met Aristotle, or was it when Socrates met Eumenides?

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