COMMENTARY DRAFT

A jam-packed stadium, hoards of rowdy tailgaters, and crazed fans are just some of the things usually observed on a college campus during game day. It is special events like football games that truly show student’s pride in their university. Unfortunately, University of Central Florida doesn’t really measure up when it comes to occasions like this. Of course, the Memory Mall is full of students and alumni tailgating and pre-gaming. But when it comes to the actual games, our 50,000 person stadium is only about two-thirds of the way filled. School spirit not only means participating in athletic events, but also just having pride in your university. It is a very important phenomenon to a school, because it better distinguishes and defines it. When students have a good sense of school spirit, there is a certain atmosphere around the campus. I feel that though UCF has one of the largest student bodies in the United States, we are lacking that sense of pride and character.

Being a freshman at the University of Central Florida has been an interesting experience so far. I came in expecting to be completely overwhelmed by upper classmen with loads of Knights pride, and have found out that they’re just about as in to school as I am. Sure, they have UCF t-shirts to wear every other day and carry their keys on black and gold lanyards, but is that enough to say these students have tons of school spirit? Because of the attitudes of other students around me, I am not very prideful of my own school. I decided it was time to get involved with my surroundings, and auditioned for the KnightMoves dance team. KnightMoves is not only a dance team, but we are also a part of the spirit team. Being an active member of the spirit squad means that I must have pride in my school, and I must participate in all events occurring on and off campus. Since I am attending all of these school sponsored occasions and athletic games, I see everything that goes on at school. We only dance at football, basketball, and volleyball games, however, as a team, KnightMoves goes to many other games to support our athletes. Even though some other sports may not be as popular as football and basketball, I feel the students here at UCF should still want to take part in them, and facilitate a better atmosphere for the athletes to play in. If more kids tried to get more involved with a club, sorority/fraternity, or a sport like I did, they would feel more connected to the school, and most likely have more pride in their school.

Talking to other students around campus, I found that some disagree with my perspective; however many students concur that there is a lack of school spirit throughout UCF. When asked about his observances of students’ spirit during events on campus, junior, Kevin Kulbacki, says “No, I feel that the average UCF student goes to most events solely for free food and other items like t-shirts, and not because they are loyal to UCF or have pride in their school.” He also thinks that there is more than Student Government can be doing to get the kids more involved with their campus, but there is only so much. It’s like leading a horse to water. SGA can prepare all of these free events, but it is up to the students to take advantage of them and to actively participate. One event that many students are looking forward to is Spirit Splash, which takes place of the Friday during Homecoming Week. This is another event I also get the chance to dance at, and I am really hoping for a big turnout from the students. With Spirit Splash being one of UCF’s longest, and most known traditions, I am expecting a majority of the school to be there and take part.

Kulbacki’s brother attends Louisiana State University, and has experienced another school’s view of great school spirit; “It by no means matches any of the other true Southern Schools, in which college football isn’t just something to do, it’s a way of life.” In saying this, Kulbacki believes that if the University of Central Florida had a better football team, the pride amongst the students would strengthen. This should not be the case though. Just because a major sports team isn’t one of the top rated teams in the nation doesn’t mean that the students at that university shouldn’t still support them. William L Hamilton, from the NY Times, believes the same thing, and witnessed this phenomenon at an Ole Miss game in 2006. Hamilton writes, “Five hours later, the Rebels were defeated by Wake Forest in a blinding rain that pushed a 5 p.m. kick off back to 7 p.m. But the party in the Grove held its ground until midnight.” Even though Ole Miss didn’t have a great game, and ended up losing, the fans still had enough spirit within them to keep their heads up. These are the kinds of stories that UCF fans need to read, so they know it is okay to lose a game and still have pride in the school. In 2007 our new Bright House Networks Stadium held it’s first game, and to our dismay, the Knights lost to the Texas Longhorns. But with the new stadium brought a new sense of pride within the Knight Fans, and that helped pull our football team through to be undefeated for the rest of the season. What we need now is a new eye opener to rekindle that spirit. At the four home football games this season, there are always thousands of empty seats, and half of the people there leave before the fourth quarter even starts. If we keep this up, it will drag the hopes of the football players down, and we won’t have another season like in 2007.

Whether or not a student thinks UCF has great school spirit, there is always room for improvement. I strongly believe that once more students get involved with the sports and clubs; we can have one of the strongest universities in the nation. With over fifty thousand students attending our school, this should be no problem to achieve. When there is a free event, get all of your friends together and go hang out for a while. Maybe try to meet new people there, and even sign up to become a part of the club sponsoring the event. There is only one way to truly “Bleed Black and Gold”, and that is to exude pride for the Knights at University of Central Florida.

COMMENTARY THESIS

School spirit is a huge phenomenon that each university in the United States observes. It plays a big part in the unity of the school, as well as many athletic teams. Pride among college students varies within different social groups. Depending on who you ask, you will get different answers. However, I have noticed a majority of University of Central Florida students do not have enough school spirit. Once the Bright House Football Stadium was built, a huge boost of spirit among the students at UCF was observed. That spirit has died down since the freshmen and sophomores of this year don’t know what it was like not having their own football stadium. UCF’s Student Government is doing everything they can to get another increase in school spirit, though they haven’t seen the results they want just yet. They have so many free events set up for the students, but hardly anyone goes. People will go to the event, get their free item, and leave. Because UCF is the third largest university in the country, I feel we should have one of the most spirited schools, which means we really need to step it up.

COMMENTARY OUTLINE

Topic: School Spirit

1) Introduction to topic
a) School spirit, and lack thereof
b) What it means to the university
c) How it affects the students
d) Thesis

2) My perspective
a) Spirit team/dance team
b) How being a freshmen affects my school spirit
c) What I see going on at events

3) Student’s perspective
a) Comparing UCF pride with other universities in the US
b) His take on free events
c) What he has seen in his time here at UCF

4) Spirit and athletics
a) Lack of pride in our football team because we are not a top nationally ranked team
b) Very few students show up to watch other team sports
c) Making use of the football lottery
d) Amount of students tailgating prior to football games vs. number of students who actually go to the game
e) New football stadium

5) SGA’s steps to more spirited university
a) Having more free events
b) Getting all the students involved with activities on campus
c) Creating lasting traditions, such as the Spirit Splash during Homecoming Week

6) Conclusion
a) Why school spirit is important
b) What students can do to improve school spirit and pride on their own

c) How to truly “Bleed Black and Gold”

COMMENTARY LETTER

Dear Chelsea,

Hey girl! So I’ve been noticing some interesting things about UCF, and I wanted to write you to see if the same things were going on over at FSU... As you know, I am part of the Spirit Team here, and so I am always pretty much on top of all the different activities going on around school. I kind of expected everyone to be so gung ho about school spirit once I got to college, but I don’t really feel that way any more now that I am actually here. There are definitely certain people who are more than spirited enough for the whole school, but then there are other students that I see who could care less about being a part of the school. There are over 50,000 kids at UCF, and I would expect a whole lot more of them to be excited about showing off their school pride. Do you see the same kind of thing going on at Florida State?
The student government at UCF plans so many events for all the students to try to get them more involved, but the only way to get people there is to have free food. Don’t get me wrong, I love all of the free food. I just think students should want to take part in their schools activities without the benefits of free items. Student Government does way too much work for student involvement for it to all just be wasted. There are always different organizations loitering around the Student Union trying to get others to join. Most of the time kids just walk right past the groups and completely ignore the people trying to talk to them.
And get this… for every home football game SGA has a lottery for free student tickets, and our student section at the games is STILL not filled! I know that UCF football isn’t as great as other schools, but that’s no reason to skip out on a football game. Especially when it could possibly be free for the students! Going to the football games is just part of the college experience. If I wasn’t on the dance team, I know I would definitely be putting my name in the lottery every week so I could have a chance to go for free. And even if I didn’t get it, I would buy a ticket. I know that the football team at FSU is much stronger than here, but do you think that the strength of the team would change the turnout of the number of students at each game? I mean, even if I didn’t like football, I would go to the game just to watch Knightro do his thing down on the field. He is by far the coolest mascot of any university.
What are some traditions your school has? For a school as young as UCF, we have a lot of spirit traditions. My favorite one is the Spirit Splash during our homecoming week, which is the one day of the year everyone is actually allowed in our Reflection Pond. There should be a pretty good turnout to that event.
Let me know all about FSU and how the school spirit is there, I would love to see the comparisons between the schools! Thanks for all of your help! Can't wait to hear from you, Chels!


Sincerely, Julia

COMMENTARY INTERVIEW

Interview with UCF junior, Kevin Kulbacki

1. Do you think the students at UCF have enough school spirit?

No, I feel that the average UCF student goes to most events solely for free stuff, like T-Shirts, and not because they are loyal to UCF athletics.

2. What else could SGA and other organizations do to increase school spirit?

I think that SGA could work on creating new traditions at UCF, similar to Spirit Splash, that could get students pumped up and excited for UCF.

3. Every football game has a lottery for free tickets, why do you think it hasn’t ever been completely filled?

I think that many students this year feel that our football team is not nearly as good as when we won the CUSA Championship a few years ago and don't want to see a team that is not absolutely amazing. Our fans will only be happy when we are the best.

4. How does school spirit at UCF compare with other universities?

I think that UCF is pretty average in terms of school spirit. It by no means matches any of the other true Southern School in which college football isn't just something to do, its a way of life. I also feel that we are much more spirited than most Northern schools.

5. What do you think is the best tradition in UCF school spirit?

Spirit Splash is by far the best tradition at UCF!

6. How does the amount of school spirit compare to when UCF did not have its own football stadium?

I think our fans have become spoiled by the on-campus stadium. Back when we played across town, people would drive out to make a day of a UCF football game. However, now that the stadium is on-campus, I feel that UCF football and tailgating has become more of "just something to do" to most students

7. How do you know what you know?

I have first hand experienced UCF school spirit for 3 years and last year surveyed students about UCF school spirit

8. Who are you to the subject?

I am a junior at UCF who has been very involved in UCF activities through UCF student organizations, individually, and through working with UCF athletics. I have seen first hand how spirited our student body is through all aspects

9. How is this event connected to other events?

Everything to do with UCF and the student body is related to school spirit. If UCF wins in one sport, then school spirit gets a boost. If we lose then the opposite occurs.

10. What if things were different?

If UCF had better sports teams, then school spirit would be far increased. Also, if we had more traditions then the students would get more interested and more involved in the school.

11. Why is this important?

It shows that in order to increase school spirit, UCF must establish itself and its sport teams in order to get the student body to really show some true school spirit. That is the only way they will ever live up to the slogan "I bleed Black and Gold."

COMMENTARY ANALYSIS

METROSEXUAL MATRIMONY

JULIA RICE, SAMANTHA SALERNO, ANDREW MATA

1. What is the trend or situation on which the commentary focuses?

The commentary focuses on grooms becoming more involved in their weddings.

2. Does the author give the reader an interesting introduction to the issue? Why or why not?

The introduction to the topic is very interesting. The author gives insight to how much the groom really cares about the wedding, giving examples of what the groom did for his groomsmen such as the manicures, and white-gold bracelets, and his $1,800 tux.

3. Does the author explain the context of the issue? How in-depth does he or she go? What do you think this signifies regarding the intended audience of the commentary?

The author gives people’s opinions throughout the article and quotes people, and doesn’t really go into the depth of the issue. The introduction goes in-depth with the story of the groom getting ready for the wedding, but the rest of the article is based on opinions. The audience probably is focused on what the grooms and brides think about the fact that grooms are getting more involved in wedding planning. It is intended to inform the audience of what these men are thinking.

4. What are the possible causes of the trend or situation the author explores?

A possible cause is that because the women were so involved in planning their wedding for a long time, men have risen to the occasion and are now involved just as much if not more than women. Also, now that women are becoming more concerned with their careers, they are taking less time to plan for their weddings. This is making the men have to take on a new role of being the wedding planner.

5. What examples or observations does the author give from his or her own life to back their belief that these are the possible causes?

The author doesn’t give any examples from his own life.

6. What is the author's stance on the topic?

The author does not really have an opinion on the topic. He just gives examples of stories he has heard about. It seems like the author thinks it is funny that grooms want to take charge of their weddings.

7. What significance does the author see in this trend or situation?

The situation is significant because the author is stating that times have changed, and men are becoming more and more actively involved in wedding planning. This change could cause problems between the bride and groom when it is time to plan, or it could settle problems if the woman doesn’t want to be involved in planning.

COMMENTARY DEVELOPMENT

The state of Florida is attempting to pass legislation to ban abortions, and “establish and protect a human being’s ‘personhood’ from the moment of fertilization” (centralfloridafuture.com). Within this bill, they are hoping add in the prohibition of all types of birth control. This includes pills such as “the morning after” pill, and anything else that will stop the fertilization between the sperm and the egg. While I think it is wrong to abort a baby at any time, I do not agree that the government should be able to regulate how you use your birth control. These other pills are just used as safety nets. When reading the article about the amendment on CentralFloridaFuture.com, I came across a few comments that gave me more insight to the topic. One writer said that if they are banning anything and everything that can prevent the sperm and egg from fertilizing, then the government might as well ban condoms, because they create a barrier disallowing this fertilization to occur. Another concerned reader wrote that if the government is doing this to try and save money, it is going to do just the opposite. The money that would normally be used for the pills and contraceptives would then go to support for raising children. Since it would be the state of Florida’s legislation, it would take effect in all colleges as well. No college pharmacy or drug store would be allowed to sell birth control or condoms to their students. This would increase the amount of students partaking in unsafe sex, and would probably lead to an increase in the number of young parents with unexpected children on the school campuses. I do not believe that Florida should pass this amendment.