Media on Campus

College can be very stressful for students. The heavy work load from classes, the independence, and teaching styles not seen in high school can really cause a student to stress and shut down. Colleges can't really help students by taking away work and independence, so to combat stress they go down a different road. They offer fun activities to the student body to keep their minds from always being on work. One of the largest activities to advertised to us students are school sports. Often as students we are bombarded with email after email telling us to go to the upcoming game, to "Support our fellow Niners as they take on..."which when thinking about it is a very clever way to get our minds off ourself and destress.

It also servers another function, it attempts to make us as students more opinionated and passionate about something. In the article "the Uses of a Liberal Education: As Lite Entertainment for Bored College Students" by Mark Edmundson, he complaines about students lack of passion and how they are scared to actually speak their mind and show their opinions. This is very true, they way our culture has raised us, we are scared to say what we think because we fear it may offend someone. Edmundson's solution is liberal study classes but I feel sports may work just as well. In college sports their is only one side a students can really be on, thats the side of his school. So by attending a sports game students combine their views of the school and come together to "attack" the opposing school. Their is no lack of passion at a college football game, even Edmundson would have to agree with me on that.

Grade Inflation

Grade Inflation has increasingly became a bigger problem at Universities and colleges across the nation and has people stumped in the search for a cause and a solution. Going back about forty years, grades were a lot different. It was basically average to receive a “C” in your classes. A “C” was not frowned upon really at all, it was closer to expected. In these times, “A”s were rarely given out, making “A”s represent near perfection. Now, in today’s world, this is not the case. “A”s have become something that we expect, and anything else being unacceptable for some people. It has become a staple that in order to be successful in today’s world it is very important that you have this high GPA and “A” average. In my opinion, grade inflation is a product of the new competitive times we live in. I believe that students are inclined to work harder now, which in turn produces higher grades.

Entering this semester, I was aware of grade inflation but never really thought much about or realized how big of an issue it really was. I did not become interested in this issue until we read the works of Phil Primack and Stuart Rojstaczer. In Phil Primack’s “Doesn’t anybody get a “C” anymore”, Primack discusses the issue of grade inflation, and how grades are given out much more feely now as opposed to the past. One of the main points or claim that Primack makes in his article is that college students today, go into class expecting a “B” without doing much work. I can see where this statement is true at times. Sometimes I know that I can at least get a “B” in a class without putting forth much effort at all. But then on the other hand, there have been some classes where I must put forth maximum effort in order to receive a good grade, but these classes come a lot more often than the others. In my opion, grade inflation is happening not because teachers are getting easier, but the amount of competition has increased causing students to work harder and receive higher grades.  In Stuart Rojstaczer’s “Grade Inflation Gone Wild”, Rojstaczer discusses many of the same points that Primack discusses. After reading these two articles, I decided to research grade inflation, and try to find what the people believe the actual cause is, as well any possible solutions that are out there. 

In order to learn more about grade inflation, I did some research and found two articles that broadened my knowledge on the issue. One of my articles is “College Students' Evaluations of Teaching and Grade Inflation”. This article is a survey of college students, in which they asked to evaluate their teachers and then this was compared to their grades. This study was based on public, mid-sized, upper Midwest universities and involved over 900,000 students with the evaluations of over 37,000 course sections. The only thing about this study that could cause me problems, is that it is not as recent as I would want it be. It was based of the grades of 1980-1999.  In the survey, with outside variables controlled as much as possible, it turned out that there was a very significant relationship between the student evaluations and the expected grades. The article came to the conclusion that, although generally valid as measures of teaching effectiveness, college students' ratings of instruction may be used in ways that raise questions of consequential validity, specifically by encouraging grade inflation, was supported. The second article I used, is “Just Say 'A': Grade Inflation Undergoes Reality Check”. This article claims that Florida State University has an issue with grade inflation but discusses grade inflation at other major Universities too to get their point across. Throughout the article, they give evidence to this claim, as well as present possible solutions to solving this problem. The article starts by discussing grade inflation at Florida State University. They talk about the issue and describe what is being done to solve this issue. Then, they use this into transition to their next couple sections which discuss why grade inflation is a difficult issue to solve. These reasons include, the lack of high numbers of people that are concerned with this issue and the lack of leaders to make the necessary steps to fix this problem. After that, the article begins to discuss grade inflation at other schools. With doing this they provide statistics, strategies, and a discussion on what is working where. In one section, as they the author is discussing possible solutions to grade inflation, a successful strategy at Princeton University is brought up. In 2004, Princeton was discovered to be worst offender of grade inflation in Ivy League schools.  In order to fix this, they basically decided to restrict the amount of “A”s teachers could give out.  Each department had to keep the number of “A”s down to 35%  in order to lower grade inflation as well create consistency across departments. I disagree with this strategy, because I feel that students should get whatever grade they have earned. If all the students earns an “A” in the class, I believe they should all receive one.

Grade inflation, in my opinion is just a product of the new times. In today’s world, there is many more opportunities to learn more than in the past, with resources such as the internet. Also, there is so much more competition in higher education than in the past. With so many students receiving a high education, it is inevitable for the competition to increase. Another reason grade inflation exists in my opinion, is because of the amount of college prep we get before entering college. Most high schools now, are taking college courses in high school making us more ready for college and helping us get better grades. Grade inflation is not an issue in my mind. To me, all it is the outcome of increased effort students of today’s world are putting forth.

Bartlett, Thomas, and Paula Wasley. "Just Say 'A': Grade Inflation Undergoes Reality Check. (Cover Story)." Chronicle Of Higher Education 55.2 (2008): A1-A12. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Apr. 2015.

Eiszler, Charles F. "College Students' Evaluations of Teaching and Grade Inflation."Research in Higher Education : Journal of the Association for Institutional Research. 43.4 (2002): 483-501. Print.

Sorority Stereotypes… Is the Media to Blame?

               For many girls, joining a sorority is a major part of college.  Sororities promote sisterhood, womanly character, independence, academic excellence, service and philanthropy along with many other things.  Being in a sorority can mold a young girl into a strong independent woman.  All these things sound so great, but many people seem to believe that the stereotypes associated with sororities outweigh the benefits that they come with.  Where might these stereotypes come from?  Mainly from the media.  Movies and TV shows often portray sorority women as having low self-worth, never going to class and only caring about parties and anything associated with alcohol.  Often these women are dumber than a slice of bread and can’t even seem to remember which way is up.  Sororities are basically seen as party clubs.  There are many examples of this; The House Bunny, Old School, Animal House, Legally Blonde, Greek, American Pie movies and Sorority Row just to name a few.  Are these stereotypes accurate and is the media to blame for them?

One of the most well-known and talked about stereotypes is that being in a sorority is like paying for friends.  While sororities can be a little pricey, dues and membership fees are required of practically all organizations.  In order to keep things running in any sorority, a lot of money has to go into it.  From philanthropy events to housing payments, mixers and fundraisers, t-shirts, sisterhood activities, etc, the list of things sororities have to spend money on is rather extensive.  One might ask why they are so expensive when they are constantly having fundraisers.  While sororities do raise lots of money, it usually all goes to their philanthropy (breast cancer awareness, Make-a-wish foundation, Ronald McDonald house, etc,) or some other charitable cause.  Each sorority has a national council that enforces things like dues and membership fees, so there is really no way around it.  Although it does take a lot of money to make a sorority work, these payments do not cover friendship and sisterhood.  Going to events and raising money and being around each other all the time, these girls are bound to become best friends.  They probably won’t get along with everyone in the sorority, but they will eventually find their place.  Rumor has it that bridesmaids and lifelong friends are made through sororities and that is something that no amount of money could buy.

Another important stereotype to address is that sorority girls are dumb, self-absorbed and don’t care about doing well in school.  Movies like The House Bunny depict sorority girls as illiterate bimbos who scrape by their college years barely going to class and only caring about partying.  Sure these things are entertaining, but they can definitely be taken offensively by real life sorority girls.  Most sororities have academic and GPA requirements, study hall hours along with service hours and a multitude of other requirements.  These things make it practically impossible just to “scrape by.”  Even to sign up to be in a sorority a certain GPA is usually required and once initiated maintenance of that GPA is mandatory or else serious consequences could occur.  Sororities pride themselves on having high academic standards and will often compete yearly for the highest average GPA.  More often than not, a sororities overall GPA or the GPA of all sororities combined is higher than that of the overall college GPA.  As for being self-absorbed, most sorority women are the complete opposite of that.  Sororities each have their own philanthropy for which they raise money and hold many events for throughout the year.  According to the article “Viewpoint: debunking 4 Greek-life stereotypes” by Lindsay Holmes, “Greek organizations make up the largest network of volunteers in the U.S., donating more than 10 million hours of volunteer service each year; raising more than $7 million annually for various organizations and charities.”  Doesn’t really sound like something that self-absorbed girls would participate in.  These demands and requirements provide girls with extra motivation to do well academically, do good in the community and maintain the sorority’s reputation.

Another stereotype that is commonly associated with sororities is that sorority girls only care about parties and guys.  This stereotype is obviously straight from the movies where sorority girls are to be viewed as mindless sex objects.  Any college student, Greek or not, is going to party.  Sorority members have the same academic commitments as regular students, along with a long list of other responsibilities giving them limited time for recreational activities much less for partying.  As for the part about guys, sorority girls are known for sleeping around.  College campuses in general are known as hotbeds for STDs and sexual activity.  Greek events are often very publicized.  Things such as mixers and other events where fraternities and sororities come together may cause this stereotype, but as with any college party sexual acts are bound to happen.  “Frat bros” are often stereotyped as sex centered so sorority women are automatically connected with that.  People assume that since frat guys are so “sex crazy,” sorority girls are only there to fulfil their needs.  Through these stereotypes sorority women are objectified which is altogether unfair. 

            Along with these stereotypes, many people believe that you can only get into a sorority with your looks.  Contrary to popular belief, not all sorority girls are Lilly Pulitzer-clad, pearl wearing, preppy Stepford wives as they are in the movies. There will always be a few girls in a sorority who are basing their sorority experience on superficial things, most often looks, but it is too often that people value the looks of the girls in a sorority over the character of the girls in a sorority.  People and students not involved in Greek life will judge an entire sorority by the looks of the girls within it.  Again, this is unfair and unrealistic.  Looks can only get you so far in life and in the recruiting process sororities look for character over looks.  Looks is actually one of the last things on their list.  People need to learn to look past the looks and the letters and get to know sorority women for who they truly are.  Look past these things and people will see a diverse group of strong women in all colors shapes and sizes.  Assumptions are the downfall of today’s society, and these types of assumptions can lead to dangerous things for potential new members of Greek life.  Coming into recruitment or in preparation, girls might believe these stereotypes and think that they won’t get in if they aren’t skinny enough or tan enough or pretty enough.  This can lead to things like eating disorders, skin cancer, and numerous other health risks.  Even once in a sorority, girls still feel the pressures of these stereotypes because people on the outside expect this sort of perfection out of them.  It is because of this stereotype that there are programs in place across many collegiate campuses that promote prevention against eating disorders. In the article "Moving from Efficacy to Effectiveness in Eating Disorders Prevention: The Sorority Body Image Program," author Carolyn Becker talks about the medias impact on body image and how eating disorders are rather common among sorority girls. She addresses, however, that these problems are not going unnoticed. Becker talks about the programs being implemented on many college campuses in order to prevent these types of disorders or stop them in their tracks. In a way this is debunking the stereotype of eating disorders in sororities, because many sororities are now developing these prevention programs and are doing things to promote positive body image and self-worth. Being that sorority girls are at a higher risk for eating disorders, these kinds of programs could be very important for the health of many girls.

            Another stereotype that is important to address is hazing.  While there is no way to know what goes on at every school, all panhellenic sororities have a very strict no-hazing policy.  Sororities have to be very careful about what they tell their girls to do because even something as little as a pet name could be considered hazing.  If a sorority is accused of hazing, serious consequences could occur, as far as the entire sorority being eliminated from campus for years.  It is the same with most fraternities as well. 

Often times it may seem like the negatives of being in a sorority or the stereotypes associated with them outweigh the positive things. Being a part of a sorority can open many doors for young women and not all those open doors are good choices. Young women (not just in sororities but in college in general) have ready access to alcohol and other substances, even if they are underage.  It all comes down to the choices they make.  Any student could choose to go to a party instead of studying for a test or doing homework. It is up to that young woman to make smart decisions for herself.  Despite the negative influence of the media, sororities truly help young women to develop strong character, sisterly bonds of friendship, and create a sense of community among each other.  A sorority is like a second family, a home away from home for many students.  If a girl is struggling with anything, she has a whole support system of upwards of 200 sisters to help her, sometimes more. While sororities do come with social benefits, the main reason girls should join is to enhance their collegiate experience with a group of young women and friends who strive for excellence.  In conclusion, the media has wrongfully portrayed sororities through stereotypes and people need to realize that this is wrong and unfair.  Hopefully society begins to understand sororities and sorority women for what they really are and see past the stereotypes the media has placed in our minds.

The Poor College Student

The Poor College Student

College has the potential to be the best four years of your life, but for some people college might be out of their grasps due to financial instability. The average four-year institution can cost upwards of $8,000 a semester in state and leaving students who graduate with loans that can be tremendous. So we can ask ourselves, is college really the only option to those students whose families may be below the poverty line and besides alternatives what struggles do the students face everyday trying to achieve their dreams. Other alternatives to a university are options like going to a junior college, enrolling into an online college, or a 2-year community college. While some of the challenges students face are paying bills, taking out loans, and having to get a part time job to help with their tuition so by the time they graduate they are not totally in debt. 

Most kids growing up are told and even dream about attending a college and pursing their education in order to achieve greatness. However some children are not as lucky due to the fact that college can be very expensive without the help of scholarships, grants, and loans. For the student who is looking forward to a higher education, but financially struggling, it can be hard for them to further their education past the free public education offered. According to David J. Braverman in his book, The Standard & Poor’s Guide to Saving and Investing for College, the costs per year for a state university can be upwards of $11,800 or $36,900 for a private institution (Braverman, 12). So for a family who only makes $40,000 a year that $12,000 is a year takes a big chunk out of their yearly income. 

Luckily going to a 4-year college isn’t the only option for students who might not be able to afford it. One way to improve your education on a budget is to enroll into a community college. Most community colleges offer 2-year degree programs, and then after those 2 years you will have the opportunity to transfer with all the credits you’ve earned to a 4-year college which will save you money in the long run. Another option presented to you is enrolling into an online college, this is much cheaper, because some online colleges offer free trial classes, and more convenient for students who are busy or can’t move off to a college. In the book, Is College Worth It?, the author is a former US Secretary of Education as well as a liberal arts graduate, and talks about how college these days are overpriced and sometimes the education you get might not be worth it. William Bennett states, “In higher education, the prime driver of the growing ed-tech phenomenon is the high potential for online courses to increase access to educational content while lowering the cost” (Bennett, 195). What is being said is that even in today’s universities many classes are turning into online classes and one day all colleges might be online.  

But even with all the alternatives out there some people still dream of being accepted and being able to afford the 4-year university route. The students who are determined to go to college will start looking for cost effective ways to help with the bills that they will be charged with. Luckily the government offers FASFA, which is finical aid and the amount you get varies on your parent’s income and taxes. On top of financial aid sometimes when if the student is living below the poverty line they get offered grants and scholarships which is free money to help pay for college. Sometimes however, financial aid and scholarships don’t cover the costs of tuition and fees so the student must take out loans in order to help. Once a student has made it into college sometimes they are not done and have to continue to do extra work in order to pay their bills and stay enrolled. One good method is to work part time and take advantage of internships and other opportunities the university has. Universities usually offer part time campus jobs to those students who may be below the poverty line and struggling to pay for classes. 

However students having to do extra to remain enrolled in college may be stereotyped and labeled as “the poor college student”. This is because compared to their friends they can afford to go out and spend money on weekends and they have to stick to meal plans instead of fast food for every meal. Another thing that can stereotype the “poor college student” is the car that they drive. Compared to the wealthy college student, the “poor” student’s 1998 Toyota Corolla may not be as nice as the Ford Mustangs or even nicer sports cars. But just because that they are stereotyped as poor, does not mean that they are getting any less of an education or not having the best 4 years of their lives.

So overall the question about is college worth it and are there other options to a 4-year university is that you can do anything in life. You can get a higher education from enrolling into an online college to going to a community college for 2 years then transferring to a university. Plus even though college can be expensive there are many ways the government as well as the university can help pay and keep you enrolled; everything from scholarships and grants, to getting a part time job and internship in order to help pay the bill each semester. College can be the best 4 years of your life and for some people it’s not right for them. But given all the opportunities given to the “poor college student” they can make it into college and be able to further their education in hopes of getting a job that can get them from being under the poverty line to being on top of the world.

Work Cited

Braverman, David J. The Standard & Poor's Guide to Saving and Investing for College. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004. Print.

Bennett, William J, and David Wilezol. Is College Worth It?: A Former United States Secretary of Education and a Liberal Arts Graduate Expose the Broken Promise of Higher Education. , 2013. Print.

Levine, Arthur, and Jana Nidiffer. Beating the Odds: How the Poor Get to College. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1996. Print.

What Are We Paying For?

“Good Will Hunting” offers some great life lessons for everyone who watches it. A lot of the lessons are about not shutting people out, and going after what you want. Along with lessons, we see a number of issues and stereotypes throughout the movies which raise a number of questions about our society. The big thing that stuck out to me was the importance of college. The protagonist Will is a genius and does great without college, and his friends (though not wealthy) have no problems enjoying their lives and surviving. Since watching this movie and starting the blog the question “is college worth it?” has run around in my mind, developing and growing into something more. The question has adapted and my opinions have changed quite a lot.

Ive decided college is a scam. Its a bold claim, but looking at how a lot of pyramid schemes are run, its not very far off the mark. Pyramid schemes often exchange "business advice" for money, then offer a small amount of money for each person the original student refers to the scheme. If you think about it, college is very similar except its accepted by society. Pulling back from the extreme slightly, college is charging a lot of money for a piece of paper saying you didn't fail. After some research I decided that this piece of paper is important requiring me to change my question about the necessity of college. I feel their is a major gap in  the importance of having a degree and having a good education. So, In todays businesses, has the importance of attending college overshadowed the importance of how smart and well educated someone is regardless of how they were educated?

While doing research on this I came across an article called "Is College Worth It?" by Adam Michelle. Though it doesn’t directly answer my question, it gives me good insight to how parents, students, and graduates feel about college. The article pulls from many different surveys that different groups have done. Through calls, internet, and mailed in responses we get an idea of what people think about the value of college. The results ended up being extremely interesting and eye opening. 

Though 57% said that they did not get good value for money and 75% said college was too expensive for Americans, 86% of graduates still said college was a good investment for them. So apparently from a money stand point college is not worth it, but the overall investment of college is a great decision. It is a very contradictory statement that requires farther insight. Just to add to the ridiculousness of societies view on college, it was also stated that 19% of on survey thought that the U.S. system is the best in the world. The results are constantly going against themselves which makes society’s thoughts towards college seem terrible. 

This article brought me to an interesting conclusion that seems to answer my question as a “yes”. The investment is important if you want to make more money in the long run. To be more specific, its important if you want to make an extra $20000 a year compared to a non college graduate. At the same time if you go to college you're not getting as much as you should for the money. That extra $20000 a year is important, but for how much we pay to go to college we should be getting a lot more than that. This puts college in a very dangerous position, just barely hanging on to its credibility. Though as that percentage of people grow saying the cost is too much, college gets closer and closer to collapsing as the expected option after high school graduation. 

This is a good way to get into another article I found while researching my question called "Is College Still Worth It" by Brian Kelly. Had this article and the first article I mentioned been written as one, I feel it would be similar to what I am writing right now about college. The article seems to focus on the conclusion I came to in my last article. So, starting from the beginning, this article talks about how US News doesn't promote college, but instead ranks them against each other. “we rank colleges and universities, we don’t promote them. Which is a good thing, because this year in particular, college would seem like a very difficult product to sell” which supports my claim that college is in a dangerous position because we are not getting enough for the amount we are paying.

Brian moves on to talk about what would happen if colleges were businesses and the questions that would be asked. Mostly if the promised product (education) is being delivered effectively. From their he talks about how college has been supported even against all odds. According to economists, higher ed is the nest economic bubble about to pop. So I’m not the only one that thinks college is losing its value and my soon die out.

Overall this article is about how college is not sustainable. Eventually the cost will outweigh the perceived value, and people will put money elsewhere. Yes, for now people who go to college are making more money long term, but soon college debt will cancel that out. One of the most concerning things I read is that many colleges spend money on non academic pursuits. This becomes a problem when the state starts funding less and colleges have to lay off faculty, resulting in over crowded classrooms and grad students teaching classes for no pay. Colleges find themselves with state of the art athletic facilities but no way to actually educate their student. 

So back to the original question, in todays businesses, has the importance of attending college overshadowed the importance of how smart and well educated someone is regardless of how they were educated?  The answer is yes. Right now businesses care more about people having a degree because so much of the money that goes into college has nothing to do with education. If the business world wanted the best educated, they would insist that the $30,000 we spend a year goes towards educating us to be successful working for various businesses. 

Adam, Michelle. "Is College worth It?" Education Digest 77.6 (2012): n. pag. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

Brian, Kelly. "Is College Still Worth It?" U.S. News & World Report 47.8 (2010): 6-12. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 29 Mar. 2015.

Stereotypical Scenes in Cinema 2

Not as Dumb as She Look

              The movie Legally Blonde is focused around the stereotypes of blonde women being dumb in society. The movie focuses more on one blonde girl, named Elle, and her adventure of applying to Harvard Law and facing the challenges set against her by the stereotypes of blonde women. Elle is portrayed as a beautiful blonde woman who most people think are stupid and can take advantage of her. In one of the earlier scenes, Elle believes her boyfriend Warner is going to purpose to her so she goes out with her friends to go dress shopping for the special occasion. In the store the sales women sees Elle and her friends trying on different dresses and tells her co-worker “There's nothing I love more than a dumb blonde with daddy's plastic”, sales women then takes a red dress and rips off the “half off” tag and approaches Elle. The saleswomen asks Elle if she has seen the dress and lies telling Elle that the dress is brand new and they got it yesterday. Elle pretends to get excited asking a bunch of different questions and the saleswoman agrees with Elle even though she has no idea what Elle is talking about. After a few questions Elle tells the sales woman that the type of stitching Elle asked about was a lie and would ruin the dress. Elle then tells the saleswoman that she saw the dress in the store over a year ago and tells her that if she’s trying to sell it to Elle it shouldn’t be full priced, and that the saleswoman picked the wrong girl to fool.

            In this scene we get to see early on that Elle is not as dumb as society makes her out to be. This scene shapes the way we see Elle and that she may not be the smartest she can pick up different details most people don’t get and we see that when she wins the case for the big trial in the end of the movie. The scene about the dress also shows us that Elle is not shy to speak up and prove people wrong and to question their authority when given a challenge about stereotypes. Her behavior about proving people wrong eventually carries over into class where she will challenge the professor’s ideas and question her professors. This contradicts Tannen’s argument about boys and girls using language differently in the classroom because Tannen states that boys are more likely to challenge their teachers and professors, while the girls will accept their professor’s word and try to not challenge anything.  Elle is the opposite of the girl stereotype set by Tannen and frequently speaks out in class in order to learn and disprove the stereotypes set against her. In the end it makes us wonder, even though the stereotypes set by society have the potential to be true, can they always be disproved?

Stereotypical Scenes in Cinema

It’s a Male Monster’s World
Jeffery Campbell

Are females monsters meant for such an intense competition?

The truth of the matter is that Monster’s University focuses strictly on the male characters and pays little attention to the female characters of the movie. Throughout the movie, you see the development of many characters suck Mike, Sully, Randall, and other monsters that belong to the fraternities. But the only female character that you really get to know is Dean Hardscrabble and she still has minimum speaking roles compared to the male characters. Then, other than Hardscrabble, there is some females who have very small roles, but you do not get to know there character really at all.

Monster’s University is generally about competition. Majority of the move consists of coverage of the Scare Games, which decide the scariest fraternity of sorority. Mike and Sully are the underdogs in these games and their fraternity is expected to be eliminated early in these games. As these games intensify, there is a scene where fraternities and sororities begin to get eliminated and it just seems that you hardly notice or even care about the elimination of any of the sororities. Once a sorority is eliminated, you never get the chance to mourn that lose. The movie quickly moves on as if nothing happened. Your focus is never on them, you just expect their elimination, so you never really pay them any attention in the scene or the movie in general. This could definitely raise concerns for some, but I do not think it would surprise someone like Deborah Tannen.  In Tannen’s article, “How Male and Female Students Use Language Differently", she talks about how males seize center stage and thrive off hierarchical statuses and how these are learned behaviors that we bring with us into the college environment. So, I feel that Tannen would think that this is because competition is meant more for males. Females do not thrive off of that competitive spirit so the focus has no need to be on them. This would also give reason behind the creation of the stereotype that such an intense competition is meant for men.

In Monster’s University, I think that one of the main reasons the females in the sororities are overlooked is because you never get the chance to grow an attachment for any the sorority members, you are introduced to their characters but that is about it. Once again, this plays into a stereotype that females are not meant for the same completion as men so it looks that they are basically sidelined from really having a chance to win in the Scare Games. Also, I think that this comes from the idea females are not as focused on hierarchal status than males. This idea supports many of Tannen’s theories about college boys. Throughout the movie, the male monsters use competition and challenging each to other to prove themselves. They obviously care about high status, which can be seen as they all want to be a part of the top fraternity which seems to be at the top of the hierarchy.

"Hunting" Stereotypes
Nick Clemens

“Good Will Hunting” is filled with historic scenes that are still talked about and referenced all the time. One of the most historic scenes in the movies happens in what Chuckie calls a “Harvard Bar”. Chuckie, who is Wills best friend goes off to flirt with two girls in the bar by pretending to be a Harvard student. After a little bit he is stopped and confronted by Clarke, a grad student at Harvard, who tries to embarrass Chuckie by asking him questions that he wouldn’t know. Will then steps in to shoot down Clarke by saying he just copied exactly what he read for a class.

This scene really pushes the gender stereotype that males often use status and knowledge to become the “alpha” of a group. This directly coincides with what Tannen said about males in her writing “How Male and Female Students Use Language Differently”. In her writing Tannen talks about how boys tend to play in large hierarchical groups. In these groups the high status boys push the low status boys around, using language to take control and challenge each other. The bar scene is filled with little details that really show males fighting to be the alpha of a group.

Chuckie first approaches the women at the bar confidently and tries to use false status to relate to and impress the women. The way he holds himself shows his confidence. He is moving and active in his stance then Clarke comes over. As Clarke takes control of the situation along with the alpha status we see the confidence in his stance. Clarke is using status and knowledge to take the alpha role just like Tannen writes about. As the challenge goes on we see a growth in the guys watching the verbal match ready to follow the winner who obviously would be Clarke. Just as Chuckie is about to be completely shut down Will jumps to his defense. When this happens there is a whole shift in the room. All the on-lookers step back in shock but continue to follow. Clarke on the other hand tries to defend himself but he total loss of confidence is obvious when Will sites the defense Clarke tried to use. Over the course of this new challenge we see Clarke set down his beer, start to slouch, and finally cross his arms showing his new insecurity.

Stereotypically most interaction among men are challenges for control of the alpha position in a group. Its how men use language. Not to relate to one another but to beat one another in competition. But how deep does this competitive nature run? It’s there among a new group of strangers but does it also run in friendships? Will may have jumped in to defend his best friend but by doing that he also made himself the alpha. I often see this competition in most male interaction even with my own with friends. When I'm with my best friend a large portion of are interaction is competition. Unlike with strangers though we know when to back off and give each other credit for a victory. On the other hand, I have friends who don’t know when to back off and keep trying to get the “alpha” position to the point of anger. Competitive nature seems to run deep in males, and “Good Will Hunting” does an outstanding job emulation this in the bar scene.

Gender Roles in College Movies
Kristen Young

In the article "How Male and Female Students use Language Differently," Deborah Tannen claims that the gender behaviors that we consider intrinsic are actually learned behaviors, and that school is often a place that reinforces these behaviors.  The movie Old School very much supports this theory.  Old School is based on the college stereotypes associated with fraternities and sororities.  The movie presents females as mere objects, there for the simple reason of male pleasure, both visual and physical.  The fraternity is created for the sole purpose of “getting ass” and the parties they throw all feature half naked girls with their tits bouncing around.  One scene in particular where this is displayed is in the celebration of Blue’s birthday.  Blue is the oldest brother of the fraternity, coming in at a whopping 89 years old.  At his birthday party, they have a wrestling match in a pool of KY jelly between Blue and two naked girls, with other topless girls all around.  Before Blue can even begin the wrestling match, he falls backwards and dies.  His death has nothing with the point though, that in real life there would probably never be topless girls at these kinds of parties, and if there really were, it could easily be blamed on movies of this nature. 

The one woman that is not presented this way is the wife of one of the main characters.  Although she is not seen as the typical half-naked bimbo shown throughout the movie, she is presented to be holding her husband back from his “full potential.”  Most college movies with male main characters incorporate this view of women.  They are nothing more than objects and relationships will only hold men back.  This shapes the way people view college education and college students, college girls in particular.  It is because of these types of movies that college girls and sorority girls are associated with partying, excessive drinking and low self-respect.  Males are also presented to be dogs who are only interested in drinking and girls.  It also seems that because of movies like this, people in fraternities and sororities think that they are expected to act this way.  This ties back to the fact that these behaviors are actually learned.  If college movies and media never existed, would college students be expected to act this way?  Or would they at all?  As a college girl, it is difficult to deal with these stereotypes as people just assume that because I associate with sorority girls, I am a crazy party girl who never goes to class.  Sure I go to parties sometimes, but I certainly would never skip class without reason or expose myself at a party for “male pleasure.”  I encounter questions about the parties I go to from my non-college friends and adults more than I receive questions about my education and I put most of the blame on college movies.  Education is downplayed and people automatically associate college with the parties, which is altogether frustrating and embarrassing and I find it easy to blame these presumptions and stereotypes on the media and college movies.