let's make a toast.

as one can tell from my previous posts, the city of Philadelphia is filled with unusual instances. strange people, crazy events, and even quite different "traditions" as seen in the article "A Penn Tradition that's Getting Stale." >>article Pranav Merchant is the author of this article. it tells of the tradition that has taken place at the University of Pennsylvania for nearly 40 years. this tradition itself is the throwing of bread onto the football field at the end of the third quarter, for five football games a year. this act began after the original tradition of toasting a drink of beer was banned in 1970 because of the use of alcohol.

so upenn came up with a substitute. throw loaves of bread onto the field... nearly $500 worth of bread each game. this bread is given to spectators by the faculty, but many students provide their own slices as well. seems pretty crazy... right? Merchant not only tells of the tradition in his article, but how he disagrees with its existence. upenn is located in Philadelphia, a city nearly filled with homeless people and poverty (as i stated in a previous blog). he argues that instead of wasting $2500 worth of bread every year, they should be donating that money to help the hungry.

interesting argument, but is it credible? believable? logical? i'd like to say yes to all of the above. however, i would have the question the credibility. Merchant provides no source list. he does not include a place where his facts have been originated from. did he make up the numbers, statistics, and findings, or was this actual research? the only sense of credibility is given because Merchant is an actual student at upenn. he attends the football games. he observes the bread-tossing event. this senior has first-hand experienced what his article has touched upon. also, the fact that the article was placed in the Philadelphia Inquire says much in itself. this is a very credible source. so although Merchant left out a source list, his work is still quite believable. he could also provide more ways in which the school can help poverty, or what he plans on doing about the issue. (is he going to take action, or does he hope this article will cause an uproar in itself)

he does a good job in luring the reader in, i will give Merchant that. i'm impressed with the way his article is organized. he starts by telling the reader the issue, continues with why this act should not take place, and finishes his article with what the tradition can lead people to believe about upenn students and what should happen next. he knows that throwing bread onto the field is a long tradition for the school. he understands that traditions are hard to break. but as he states, if the tradition had been altered from beer to bread in 1970, why can't the tradition be changed to plastic bread of nonalcoholic drinks now? he wants the reader to understand his logic, which he does nicely, and i commend him for that.

many opinion pieces include a great deal of bias. but Merchant attends upenn. he is a student at the belly of the beast. the place where the issue occurs. you would think that a student at upenn would be for the tradition of throwing bread onto a football field and wasting it. but Merchant is different. he is not biased. he cares more about the poverty-struck Philadelphians than some silly tradition at his university. he even calls students at his school "spoiled" and "bratty." the fact that he is not biased also gives him more credibility to the readers.

i'm quite impressed with this article. as opposed to tearing it apart, i find it quite believable and logical. i do not like that he has not submitted where his information is taken from. other than that, he poses a good argument. it is one that many Philadelphians can feel for: poverty. upenn may not  be known for not having money, but the issue still exists in the city the college is in. Merchant does a great job in conveying this.