Writing 200 Repurposing Project
Author’s Note:
Professor Manis,
As a predominately scientific writer, I definitely went out on a limb with this piece. The original essay, a philosophically alluring piece regarding the immorality of adderall use on college campuses, was extremely factual and well researched. For the re-purposing project, I initially wanted to use this research to write a newspaper article targeted at university students across the country explaining the undeniable detriments of neuro-enhancer abuse. However, after I wrote the first draft of the article, I tried to imagine it being published in a media such as “The Michigan Daily”, but I simply couldn’t find a way to make the piece attention grabbing.
With the second draft, I decided to use a different approach: satirical humor. Most, if not all students that I have encountered at the University of Michigan demonstrate a fondness for the school’s satirical newspaper, the “Every Three Weekly”. Although some articles are purely humorous, the majority focus in on a topic near and dear to college students heart’s….i.e. drinking, partying, vacationing and definitely not studying. By presenting adderall abuse in such a sarcastic, humorous way I feel as though my intended audience is reached much more efficiently. In addition, even though it is a sarcastically written piece, I was still able to incorporate factual information from each of my sources, which I believe strengthened my argument as a whole. That being said, I also feel as though the sarcastic tone of the article allows students to really comprehend the selfishness and danger of adderall use as a method of performance enhancement, thus I decided to stick with it for the “final” draft.
Although I think that a satirical approach is entirely appropriate for the conveyance of my argument, this is an entirely new type of writing for me. In fact, I’ve never even written a newspaper article before, so I think this project was a great way to expand our horizons and break personal barriers in terms of writing. I hope you enjoy!
Adderall XR
UGLi -- We’ve all seen it. That kid in the library who hasn’t moved in 36 hours except for that uncontrollable neck-shoulder twitch every 16 seconds…admit it, you’re counting. No, my friends, it’s not Tourettes…it’s the desirable side-affects of the recreational homework aiding drug, Adderall. I mean, yeah it sucks that you’re in the library working your ass off, but just remember that this kid definitely deserves an “A” more than you. I mean we can’t blame him; he’s a college student in the 21st century which makes him part of the most egoistic, self centered generation in history (3)…his needs clearly come before yours.
We all know why college students use adderall. I mean, it’s the professor’s fault. If they would just do their job and stop assigning us homework while letting us pay $24,000 a year to drink, go to football games, and realize the true potential of our social lives, life would be so much easier. Plus, it’s not like using Adderall is cheating. LS&Play’s academic integrity standards don’t say anything about brain doping (5), so I guess I don’t have to compromise any of my personal or academic morals either. Sweet!
Tri kaps freshman frat-pledge, Ethan Dershowitz, is an expert on Adderall. “I’m screwed for my Spanish final tomorrow” said Deshowitz, “I'm gonna have to take some adderall tonight so that I can learn a new language.” If only everyone was smart enough to take adderall the night before our Spring Break 2012 trip to Cabo, we could all learn how to order our drinks in Mexican!
Adderall is basically the solution to all of life's problems…too bad about that whole high-potential-to-become-habit-forming part. I guess it’s not that big of a deal though because it’s in the same drug family as cocaine, and cocaine addiction works out pretty well for everyone…just look at Charlie Sheen and Amy Winehouse, they’re millionaires! Plus, just like the rest of the amphetamine family, Adderall suppresses your appetite so that you can finally fit into that size 2 Vera Wang you’ve always dreamed about wearing at your wedding! America’s obesity problems? Solved.
Aside from its blatantly healthy side affects, practically everyone uses it! An overwhelming majority (17% of men and 11% of women) of college students have reported using Adderall in the past year to enhance academic performance (4), so why shouldn’t you!? It’s simply unfair that the 3-5% of people who are actually affected by ADD or ADHD are keeping this miracle drug to themselves (2). Especially last year during the Adderall shortage when they weren’t sharing with the rest of us, I mean come on, why should they get it first? Half of them are just faking it anyways to get a prescription, but it’s totally legal that way, so props to them, I guess!
In short, next time you decide to pop some Adderall the night before your CHEM 210 final, just remember that you deserve it. You deserve to do better than everyone else, because hell, you ARE better than everyone else.
Annotated Bibliography
1) "Adderall Information from Drugs.com." Drugs.com | Prescription Drug Information, Interactions & Side Effects. Cerner Multum, Inc. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://www.drugs.com/adderall.html>. This webpage provides extensive information regarding adderall use such as uses, doses, warnings, and side affects that have been translated directly from the prescription label, and thus is an incredibly accurate source. This background information will be used throughout my essay allowing the reader to more efficiently grasp the true consequences of long-term neuro-enhancer abuse that undeniably occurs on college campuses.
2) Barkley, Russell A. (2007). "ADHD in Adults: History, Diagnosis, and Impairments". ContinuingEdCourses.net. Retrieved July 27, 2009. Russell Barkley published an informational piece on the history of ADHD, the disorder for which patients are prescribed adderall and other neuro-enhancers. During his analysis, he explains the population statistics of ADHD itself, where he establishes that approximately 3-5% of the adult population suffers from any form of ADHD. Barkley’s Ph.D status, and APA webpage approval signifies that data presented on the page is, in fact, valid. Barkley’s research on its own does not hold a huge level of significance to my essay, however when paired with Kristina Hall’s data(as will be cited below), it is plausible to conclude that this amphetamine abuse is present contrary to the belief of university officials, and society as a whole. Hall conducted research regarding the use of adderall on college campuses, and found that upwards of 25% of students have reportedly used adderall or other prescription neuro-enhancers as a method of academic performance enhancement. Thus, based on these two data sources, it is undeniable that prescription drug abuse is present on college campus.
3) Konrath, S., Foster, J. D., Keith Campbell, W. and Bushman, B. J. (2008), Egos Inflating Over Time: A Cross-Temporal Meta-Analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. Journal of Personality, 76: 875–902. Sarah Konrath, along with her colleagues, deeply explored the concept of egoism, and how its prominence has recently shifted in our society. Throughout the essay, Konrath provides undeniable evidence that today’s generation (specifically college students) is, in fact, significantly more egoistic than past generation’s students. As a method of research, Konrath sampled 16,475 college students across the nation from 1979 to 2006 who were all subjected to the Narcissistic Personal Inventory test. Konrath observed an increase in egoism by approximately 30% from 1979 to 2006. This essay has been extremely well written, and supported by irrefutable empirical data as an outcome of the NPI test, and thus the conclusions drawn by Konrath appear to be reliable. Konrath’s findings are extremely relatable to the topic of adderall abuse, as students who take adderall are often putting their own needs before the needs of other students, exhibiting a high level of self-centered, egoistic thinking.
4) Kristina M. Hall et al."Illicit Use of Prescribed Stimulant Medication Among College Students," Journal of American College Health, Vol. 53, No. 4 (2005). Kristina Hall and her colleagues researched the topic of prescription neuro-enhancers in a college setting. Through their analysis, they derived many significant data points where their findings revealed that 17% of 179 surveyed men and 11% of 202 women reported use of prescribed stimulant medication. In addition, 44% of surveyed students stated that they knew students who used stimulant medication illicitly for both academic and recreational reasons. Students reported they experienced time pressures associated with college life and that stimulants were said to increase alertness and energy. This data is very reliable, as it was published in the Journal of American College Health in 2005. Hall’s data is extremely relevant to my research, as it suggests that students are using adderall as a method of performance enhancement, and when compared with Russel Barkley’s data (cited above), which again suggests that students who are taking these drugs are not all effected by ADHD, which is the general building block of my essay as a whole.
5) "LSA Community Standards of Academic Integrity." University of Michigan. University of Michigan.<http://www.lsa.umich.edu/academicintegrity/>. The LSA Community Standards of Academic Integrity is a lengthy document regarding the ethics of student academic behavior. Throughout its entirety, topics such as plagiarism, and cheating are defined numerous times under a variety of circumstances. This academic integrity is what upholds our university as a reputable institution, yet using prescription drugs as a method of performance enhancement is not explicitly cited as an offense, which I plan to utilize in my essay. As University of Michigan officials have written the Standards, I consider them to be an extremely reliable source in terms of university policy. This source will be a useful tool to connect with my intended audience here at the University of Michigan.