The Sept. 26 edition of The Collegian featured on its front page an article by news reporter Katrina Garcia under the headline, “Who’s in charge?”
The article, referring to an alcohol-related incident involving members of the sorority Delta Zeta, posed the central question: When fraternities and sororities find themselves embroiled in issues with potential legal recourse, to whom do they turn, and to whom are they accountable?
On Sept. 12, The Collegian was forwarded an unsolicited e-mail illustrating an alcohol-related incident involving underage drinking. The author of the e-mail, affiliated with Delta Zeta, expressed “serious concerns” about the occurrence. The content of the e-mail — which included information about executive members, potentials and the severity of the alcohol use — prompted The Collegian’s inquiry into the situation.
During the course of the inquiry, The Collegian discovered through Delta Zeta’s faculty adviser, Dan Carrion, that the events described in the e-mail did not match with findings of an internal investigation, conducted by the Regional Collegiate Coordinator of Delta Zeta, Sandy Hall, as well as Recruitment Adviser Melissa Littlewood. Neither Hall nor Littlewood are affiliated with the university.
This discovery shifted the focus of our inquiry to the issue of accountability.
A detail of the events that occurred — as Carrion recounted to Garcia on the evening of Monday, Sept. 24 — describes a situation in which two girls, a Delta Zeta potential and her friend, attended an event hosted by the sorority. According to Carrion, the girls left the event for a fraternity party, where the friend of the potential was later discovered intoxicated and feeling ill.
Carrion told The Collegian that the friend was discovered by other Delta Zeta sisters, who took the girl back the their sorority house and notified the president of the sorority, who in turn notified Littlewood, an alumna of Delta Zeta.
Despite multiple attempts to contact current members of the sorority, including President Joann Mercado, Delta Zeta has failed to agree to any interviews with The Collegian. None of these events have been officially confirmed to The Collegian by Delta Zeta sisters.
On Friday, Sept. 21, when Garcia conducted her first interview with Carrion, he reacted with surprise to the news of the occurrence, as he had not been informed.
According to Littlewood, with whom Garcia spoke the previous day, an internal investigation was already under way. “If it’s internal, I should’ve known about it,” Carrion said on Friday, upon being informed by The Collegian of the Delta Zeta investigation. Their investigation consisted of interviews conducted with members present at the incident.
Only after being approached by The Collegian did the sorority schedule an appointment informing their faculty adviser of the occurrence, where representatives gave their summary of events to Carrion.
Garcia’s second interview with Carrion, in conjunction with his initial surprise, catalyzed the focus of the story.
A later interview with Laura Williams, Greek adviser for the university, added another layer to the inquiry. Williams said there is no general protocol requiring Greek organizations to alert their faculty advisers of internal investigations, though certain chapters do mandate the notification of certain advisers in their particular constitutions. Furthermore, they are not required to disclose any of these investigations to Williams.
This raised our concerns. While Greeks are ultimately under the jurisdiction of the Division of Student Affairs, they are not necessarily required to inform anybody affiliated with the university of occurrences that chapters believe warrant internal investigations.
The accountability factor was ultimately the focus of the article, one which a number of our critics seem to have missed.
In essence, Garcia’s article is about the accountability within the Greek system, not members of the Greek community.
The article was never intended as a means of reinforcing stereotypes about Greeks. Rather, the intent was to inform our readers of how the process of reporting incidents in the Greek system works, and to illuminate the murky rules of accountability between fraternities and sororities and their university advisers.
While we are not in the position to legislate for Greek organizations, we believe it is our duty to question why university-affiliated organizations are not required to report to the university.
The current system allows Greeks to report incidents to whomever they choose, and unless a police report is forwarded to the university, Fresno State can be kept in the dark about problems within Greek organizations.
We believe if a problem merits an internal investigation on behalf of a chapter, the university should, at the very least, know about it, if not conduct its own investigation. How qualified is any organization to investigate itself?
This is a conflict of interest — a position with which we believe hardly anybody would disagree.
For the good of the university, no organization — Greek or otherwise — should be able to use the school simply for legal cover, should an incident escalate to a level necessitating university involvement, by their current standards.
The current system demands a heavy dose of personal responsibility and the current system demands little in the way of specific accountability.
The current system demands review and change.
Raking the Leaves • Sep 29, 2007 at 4:47 pm
There is nothing discrete about being Greek – whether I was Greek or Mason I wouldn’t tell ya. Fall under the jurisdiction of a social occupational eye soar impressing responsibility? Sounds like a head ache. What happened to that young man was tragic, however my observations indicate this kind of social activity is tradition for most Greek societies…if it isn’t whim its brawn.
Effective decision making is rendered when the convoluted influx of social delirium or constituency goes silent – or we can put a rush on things. Just another way to look at it.
Philanthropy?
The point of these social networks, presuming the members are committed to one another, is to increase the chances of success in a competitive environment. It̢۪s self-fish to begin with. Philanthropic points of view come with age and guilt. Actually I wouldn̢۪t know about that, I̢۪m still young.
Raking the Leaves • Sep 29, 2007 at 11:47 pm
There is nothing discrete about being Greek – whether I was Greek or Mason I wouldn’t tell ya. Fall under the jurisdiction of a social occupational eye soar impressing responsibility? Sounds like a head ache. What happened to that young man was tragic, however my observations indicate this kind of social activity is tradition for most Greek societies…if it isn’t whim its brawn.
Effective decision making is rendered when the convoluted influx of social delirium or constituency goes silent ”“ or we can put a rush on things. Just another way to look at it.
Philanthropy?
The point of these social networks, presuming the members are committed to one another, is to increase the chances of success in a competitive environment. It’s self-fish to begin with. Philanthropic points of view come with age and guilt. Actually I wouldn’t know about that, I’m still young.
Jared T. • Sep 29, 2007 at 3:19 pm
I think what much of this stems from is the fact that the article, in and of itself, was poorly written. The lede is misleading and vague, and only upon further reading do we discover what the purpose of this article is. And I will not argue that the article does serve a purpose. However, articles should not demand this kind of follow-up. They should be concise in their clarity, intent, and general journalistic skills. The article in question, however, seemed to have a purpose — but that purpose used an anecdote of this sorority happening to demonstrate the purpose. In turn, the article took on the appearance of a gossipy tabloid piece struggling as hard as it could to appear newsy. It was a perfectly relevant question, but the exploitation of the situation of the drunken girl became an anecdote that the question didn’t really need. But since the author of this article decided to use the anecdote, it should have been placed under the editorial category. The way the author chose to frame this article made it troublesome to fit into the news category because it was simply so subjective that it made the article into an “out for blood” issue against the Greek system.
I’m not affiliated with the Greek system. However, though I know that many Greeks participate in community service and philanthropy, I would encourage the Greeks to realize that what they see as negative stereotypes are actually, more or less, strikingly true. Though not a Greek, I’ve been to many a party as most of us have. Greeks thrive on the party life, and to deny this is just silly. Greeks are not the only partiers on campus. Being a Greek does not give one license to party hard and get drunk. Nongreeks do it as well and just as often. The ethics in question are, as posed by many of the Greeks, that what makes the front page is the debauchery of the Greeks and not the nongreeks when both groups do the same thing. I fully understand this and appreciate this, because it is true that Greeks aren’t the only ones who party. However, I would discourage those who read the Greeks comments to fall for the idea that much of Greek life isn’t about partying, because it is. Much of college life is as well, but for the sake of argument, Greeks need to stop bashing anyone who calls them on out this and instead focus on the real issue. When party goers say they are heading out to a party, they say they are going to “Delta Zeta” or “Simga Chi”, etc. This is a foundation as to why Greeks are so pigeonholed as partiers, because so many parties are associated with a certain chapter of the Greek system.
Not all Greeks party. Not all college students party. But a large portion of them do. Does this deserve the front page? Not at all. I think many of the problems in this article, again, stem from it’s poorly-written nature. Any story that has an unclear purpose is bound to be interpreted as something that it didn’t set out to be, as the Greeks saw it as an attack. They had the right to, but it didn’t have to happen if this article was written better. And that goes for copy editors and editors as well. Where were you? This shouldn’t have slipped by.
Jared T. • Sep 29, 2007 at 10:19 pm
I think what much of this stems from is the fact that the article, in and of itself, was poorly written. The lede is misleading and vague, and only upon further reading do we discover what the purpose of this article is. And I will not argue that the article does serve a purpose. However, articles should not demand this kind of follow-up. They should be concise in their clarity, intent, and general journalistic skills. The article in question, however, seemed to have a purpose — but that purpose used an anecdote of this sorority happening to demonstrate the purpose. In turn, the article took on the appearance of a gossipy tabloid piece struggling as hard as it could to appear newsy. It was a perfectly relevant question, but the exploitation of the situation of the drunken girl became an anecdote that the question didn’t really need. But since the author of this article decided to use the anecdote, it should have been placed under the editorial category. The way the author chose to frame this article made it troublesome to fit into the news category because it was simply so subjective that it made the article into an “out for blood” issue against the Greek system.
I’m not affiliated with the Greek system. However, though I know that many Greeks participate in community service and philanthropy, I would encourage the Greeks to realize that what they see as negative stereotypes are actually, more or less, strikingly true. Though not a Greek, I’ve been to many a party as most of us have. Greeks thrive on the party life, and to deny this is just silly. Greeks are not the only partiers on campus. Being a Greek does not give one license to party hard and get drunk. Nongreeks do it as well and just as often. The ethics in question are, as posed by many of the Greeks, that what makes the front page is the debauchery of the Greeks and not the nongreeks when both groups do the same thing. I fully understand this and appreciate this, because it is true that Greeks aren’t the only ones who party. However, I would discourage those who read the Greeks comments to fall for the idea that much of Greek life isn’t about partying, because it is. Much of college life is as well, but for the sake of argument, Greeks need to stop bashing anyone who calls them on out this and instead focus on the real issue. When party goers say they are heading out to a party, they say they are going to “Delta Zeta” or “Simga Chi”, etc. This is a foundation as to why Greeks are so pigeonholed as partiers, because so many parties are associated with a certain chapter of the Greek system.
Not all Greeks party. Not all college students party. But a large portion of them do. Does this deserve the front page? Not at all. I think many of the problems in this article, again, stem from it’s poorly-written nature. Any story that has an unclear purpose is bound to be interpreted as something that it didn’t set out to be, as the Greeks saw it as an attack. They had the right to, but it didn’t have to happen if this article was written better. And that goes for copy editors and editors as well. Where were you? This shouldn’t have slipped by.
A Concerned Greek • Sep 29, 2007 at 1:40 pm
I concur with Hannah. Had the same situation happened in the dorms or any of the residences populated by students surrounding the campus, the Collegian would never have reported on it. Why, therefore must the Collegian attempt to vilify the Greek societies on campus and persist to discriminate towards us based upon misconceived perceptions of our actions or social demeanors? I challenge you to try to take a higher ground and report on facts that are newsworthy and relevant to all students rather than try to do nothing more than spread discriminatory opinions.
A Concerned Greek • Sep 29, 2007 at 8:40 pm
I concur with Hannah. Had the same situation happened in the dorms or any of the residences populated by students surrounding the campus, the Collegian would never have reported on it. Why, therefore must the Collegian attempt to vilify the Greek societies on campus and persist to discriminate towards us based upon misconceived perceptions of our actions or social demeanors? I challenge you to try to take a higher ground and report on facts that are newsworthy and relevant to all students rather than try to do nothing more than spread discriminatory opinions.
Hannah • Sep 29, 2007 at 1:24 pm
First of all, I agree with Dan’s last comment. The issue of crimes done near OUR campus should be exposed rather than exposing DZ as helpful women. I still don’t understand why other groups or individuals are not questioned about proper reporting to the campus. If this women got “sick” at a house of an athletic player or a member of the band, it WOULD NOT be on the front page. I would also like to add that there are many Greeks that are involved in both band and athletics. I think that the collegian needs to focus on other important issues.
Hannah • Sep 29, 2007 at 8:24 pm
First of all, I agree with Dan’s last comment. The issue of crimes done near OUR campus should be exposed rather than exposing DZ as helpful women. I still don’t understand why other groups or individuals are not questioned about proper reporting to the campus. If this women got “sick” at a house of an athletic player or a member of the band, it WOULD NOT be on the front page. I would also like to add that there are many Greeks that are involved in both band and athletics. I think that the collegian needs to focus on other important issues.
Rooting for Hawaii = Treason • Sep 29, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Matt (Opinion Editor),
The “news” article lacked important facts. The question that was raised should have included research and a strong opinion piece instead of looking only at a specific incident that lacked newsworthy elements. If you looked hard enough, you could find a Fresno State student passed out after drinking in a variety of places in and around campus. This could have been a great story if it would have looked at a greater scope of students.
Why does it become news if it happens at a fraternity or sorority as opposed to an apartment or dorm room?
That question is why the Collegian is being questioned about the validity of their argument of justifying such a long and poorly written “news” article.
Rooting for Hawaii = Treason • Sep 29, 2007 at 7:21 pm
Matt (Opinion Editor),
The “news” article lacked important facts. The question that was raised should have included research and a strong opinion piece instead of looking only at a specific incident that lacked newsworthy elements. If you looked hard enough, you could find a Fresno State student passed out after drinking in a variety of places in and around campus. This could have been a great story if it would have looked at a greater scope of students.
Why does it become news if it happens at a fraternity or sorority as opposed to an apartment or dorm room?
That question is why the Collegian is being questioned about the validity of their argument of justifying such a long and poorly written “news” article.
Dan • Sep 29, 2007 at 11:52 am
Memo to the News Editor–instead of wasting ink and news print on Delta Zeta’s alleged wrongdoings, go talk to Jeff Cardinale (he’s the PIO for Fresno PD). Ask him about the series of armed robberies and assaults that have occurred on the street and in the apartment complexes on Cedar, Ninth, Bulldog Lane, Barstow, and Shaw Avenue since June. The latest robbery occurred this week at an address in the 2300 block of Shaw (which is just west of Maple Avenue).
Dan • Sep 29, 2007 at 6:52 pm
Memo to the News Editor–instead of wasting ink and news print on Delta Zeta’s alleged wrongdoings, go talk to Jeff Cardinale (he’s the PIO for Fresno PD). Ask him about the series of armed robberies and assaults that have occurred on the street and in the apartment complexes on Cedar, Ninth, Bulldog Lane, Barstow, and Shaw Avenue since June. The latest robbery occurred this week at an address in the 2300 block of Shaw (which is just west of Maple Avenue).
McLovin • Sep 29, 2007 at 11:01 am
AECD, the subject matter isn’t newsworthy to YOU since any investigation of the Greek system by a non-Greek entity would uncover some unsavory story or occurance at your house or the collective system of Greek orgs at Fresno State.
McLovin • Sep 29, 2007 at 6:01 pm
AECD, the subject matter isn’t newsworthy to YOU since any investigation of the Greek system by a non-Greek entity would uncover some unsavory story or occurance at your house or the collective system of Greek orgs at Fresno State.
Mathew Gomes, Opinion Editor • Sep 29, 2007 at 1:57 am
“Who’s in charge?” was a straight reporting of facts received about the structure of accountability within the Greek system as it relates to the university. The Collegian is not in the habit of running news items on the Opinion page.
An editorial on the issue ultimately would have run anyway given the magnitude of the current lack of oversight.
Mathew Gomes, Opinion Editor • Sep 29, 2007 at 8:57 am
“Who’s in charge?” was a straight reporting of facts received about the structure of accountability within the Greek system as it relates to the university. The Collegian is not in the habit of running news items on the Opinion page.
An editorial on the issue ultimately would have run anyway given the magnitude of the current lack of oversight.
A.E.C.D. • Sep 29, 2007 at 12:19 am
Again, this is my opinion. Which is what comment boards like this are for.
I believe that this article should have been on the opinion pages from the beginning. The contents of the original were not newsworthy. And like some before me, I believe that a clarification would not have been necessary if the article had been clear in the first place.
As for the cardinal rules I mentioned earlier, the author of the original wrote a lead sentence that was ultimately misleading. We do not find until much later in the piece that the person involved in the incident was not a Delta Zeta at all, but a friend of a potential member. In addition, the reader must endure about 12 ‘graphs (I’m estimating, here) in order to reach the meat — whereupon the actual point of the article is explored.
If you found it seamlessly coherent, good for you. A good article should make you think, but it should never be misleading.
A.E.C.D. • Sep 29, 2007 at 7:19 am
Again, this is my opinion. Which is what comment boards like this are for.
I believe that this article should have been on the opinion pages from the beginning. The contents of the original were not newsworthy. And like some before me, I believe that a clarification would not have been necessary if the article had been clear in the first place.
As for the cardinal rules I mentioned earlier, the author of the original wrote a lead sentence that was ultimately misleading. We do not find until much later in the piece that the person involved in the incident was not a Delta Zeta at all, but a friend of a potential member. In addition, the reader must endure about 12 ‘graphs (I’m estimating, here) in order to reach the meat — whereupon the actual point of the article is explored.
If you found it seamlessly coherent, good for you. A good article should make you think, but it should never be misleading.
Dan • Sep 28, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Stacey–if the original article had been written coherently, the second article wouldn’t have been needed. What part of “coherent” don’t you understand? The Collegian certainly didn’t.
Dan • Sep 28, 2007 at 8:35 pm
Stacey–if the original article had been written coherently, the second article wouldn’t have been needed. What part of “coherent” don’t you understand? The Collegian certainly didn’t.
A Concerned Greek • Sep 28, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Having held many leadership positions in both my fraternity chapter and the Inter Fraternity Council, the greater judicial body of the fraternity system, I know first hand how these problems occur and how they are dealt with. In the instance regarding Delta Zeta, I believe that those ladies acted very conscientiously by taking care of someone that was not their responsibility to watch over. Put yourself in their position, had you found someone who you were not affiliated with and hardly knew lying sick at someone else’s house, would you have been so honorable as to take it upon yourself and care for that person even though it had not been incumbent upon you? These women did a great service for a girl they barely knew. Unfortunately that girl made a bad mistake and hopefully she will subsequently learn from it. But it is not our right to condemn those who helped her when she was in need. The mistakes that she made were her’s and her’s alone. Delta Zeta served only to rectify the situation. Delta Zeta does not deserve the fallout that has occurred from trying to help someone who made a bad judgment call. If anything, Delta Zeta deserves thanks from the girl and an apology from the Collegian.
A Concerned Greek • Sep 28, 2007 at 8:19 pm
Having held many leadership positions in both my fraternity chapter and the Inter Fraternity Council, the greater judicial body of the fraternity system, I know first hand how these problems occur and how they are dealt with. In the instance regarding Delta Zeta, I believe that those ladies acted very conscientiously by taking care of someone that was not their responsibility to watch over. Put yourself in their position, had you found someone who you were not affiliated with and hardly knew lying sick at someone else’s house, would you have been so honorable as to take it upon yourself and care for that person even though it had not been incumbent upon you? These women did a great service for a girl they barely knew. Unfortunately that girl made a bad mistake and hopefully she will subsequently learn from it. But it is not our right to condemn those who helped her when she was in need. The mistakes that she made were her’s and her’s alone. Delta Zeta served only to rectify the situation. Delta Zeta does not deserve the fallout that has occurred from trying to help someone who made a bad judgment call. If anything, Delta Zeta deserves thanks from the girl and an apology from the Collegian.
INTERESTED OLD SOUL • Sep 28, 2007 at 12:44 pm
Dear A.E.C.D,
Maybe you should first understand the difference between an article and an opinion piece. But having never graduated from college and of course with no degree in journalism under my belt perhaps you would like to enlighten us on what cardinal rules were broken. Was it that the author made you think? I guess I must be doing better than you. I understood the article and found it easy to digest and it made me question as most articles should.
INTERESTED OLD SOUL • Sep 28, 2007 at 7:44 pm
Dear A.E.C.D,
Maybe you should first understand the difference between an article and an opinion piece. But having never graduated from college and of course with no degree in journalism under my belt perhaps you would like to enlighten us on what cardinal rules were broken. Was it that the author made you think? I guess I must be doing better than you. I understood the article and found it easy to digest and it made me question as most articles should.
Stacy Auredt • Sep 28, 2007 at 12:33 pm
A.E.C.D., this newer article had to be created and published simply to make dimwits like you understand the Collegian’s original intent. You are not a bright person.
Stacy Auredt • Sep 28, 2007 at 7:33 pm
A.E.C.D., this newer article had to be created and published simply to make dimwits like you understand the Collegian’s original intent. You are not a bright person.
A.E.C.D. • Sep 28, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Maybe if the article had been written like this in the first place, there would not have been such a backlash. The original author broke some cardinal rules of journalism. This is much easier to digest.
A.E.C.D. • Sep 28, 2007 at 7:21 pm
Maybe if the article had been written like this in the first place, there would not have been such a backlash. The original author broke some cardinal rules of journalism. This is much easier to digest.
Lance Ito • Sep 28, 2007 at 12:17 pm
It (the article) is investigative. The paper wants to raise the question of accountability. Just because you disagree with the subject matter, doesn’t make the topic worthless. You people are college students. Think.
Lance Ito • Sep 28, 2007 at 7:17 pm
It (the article) is investigative. The paper wants to raise the question of accountability. Just because you disagree with the subject matter, doesn’t make the topic worthless. You people are college students. Think.
Dan • Sep 28, 2007 at 11:02 am
The article still sucks as a piece of writing. One shouldn’t have to have a degree in philosophy or word smithing to figure out what the point of the tale was. Whatever happened to editorial control and rewriting?
Dan • Sep 28, 2007 at 6:02 pm
The article still sucks as a piece of writing. One shouldn’t have to have a degree in philosophy or word smithing to figure out what the point of the tale was. Whatever happened to editorial control and rewriting?
Benjamin Baxter • Sep 28, 2007 at 10:52 am
Check out the relevant blog.
Benjamin Baxter • Sep 28, 2007 at 5:52 pm
Check out the relevant blog.
Dan • Sep 28, 2007 at 10:47 am
Is it really any of the Collegian’s business. As a matter of fact–if you’ve been following the on-going chatter in the larger, Fresno, community about social host ordinances, it is in fact NOT illegal under state law for minors to drink at private parties. Hence the panic to enact these ordinances.
Dan • Sep 28, 2007 at 5:47 pm
Is it really any of the Collegian’s business. As a matter of fact–if you’ve been following the on-going chatter in the larger, Fresno, community about social host ordinances, it is in fact NOT illegal under state law for minors to drink at private parties. Hence the panic to enact these ordinances.
Benjamin Baxter • Sep 28, 2007 at 10:30 am
When it comes down to it, the contents of that e-mail illustrated underage drinking. That’s a breach of state law.
That’s why The Collegian investigated, and, owing to the secretive, unified nature of most Greek organizations, hit no end of brick walls.
Benjamin Baxter • Sep 28, 2007 at 5:30 pm
When it comes down to it, the contents of that e-mail illustrated underage drinking. That’s a breach of state law.
That’s why The Collegian investigated, and, owing to the secretive, unified nature of most Greek organizations, hit no end of brick walls.
Well • Sep 28, 2007 at 5:14 pm
The original story should have been held so the editorial team could make better sense of it and print it later.
This is all I really need to point out:
“The accountability factor was ultimately the focus of the article, one which a number of our critics seem to have missed.”
It’s not the readership’s fault if most of them can’t figure out what the story is about.
Reading a hard news story shouldn’t require days of philosophy and deep thought. The Greeks just assumed it was a pointless bashing of their whole way of life, and who can blame them when the point of the story is so obscure?
But when it comes down to it, this story topic is pretty marginal to most students anyway.
Well • Sep 28, 2007 at 10:14 am
The original story should have been held so the editorial team could make better sense of it and print it later.
This is all I really need to point out:
“The accountability factor was ultimately the focus of the article, one which a number of our critics seem to have missed.”
It’s not the readership’s fault if most of them can’t figure out what the story is about.
Reading a hard news story shouldn’t require days of philosophy and deep thought. The Greeks just assumed it was a pointless bashing of their whole way of life, and who can blame them when the point of the story is so obscure?
But when it comes down to it, this story topic is pretty marginal to most students anyway.
INTERESTED OLD SOUL • Sep 28, 2007 at 8:06 am
Dear this should have been an opinion piece (aka to he who would be king),
As I said earlier there was something amiss. It is interesting to me that for a person who states he would be fair to all students has the audacity to say what he would have done without actually knowing what information the staff at the Collegian was investigating. I may not know alot about journalism but I am in the business world where sometimes choices made don’t always fit into that perfect mold. Decisions have to be made with the input of many people and the outcome can not always be what everyone would like to see or hear. Be an adult, until you are actually in that position and woe to those under you if that happens, I would keep my mouth shut. You may actually have to eat your own words.
STILL OLD STILL SMART.
INTERESTED OLD SOUL • Sep 28, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Dear this should have been an opinion piece (aka to he who would be king),
As I said earlier there was something amiss. It is interesting to me that for a person who states he would be fair to all students has the audacity to say what he would have done without actually knowing what information the staff at the Collegian was investigating. I may not know alot about journalism but I am in the business world where sometimes choices made don’t always fit into that perfect mold. Decisions have to be made with the input of many people and the outcome can not always be what everyone would like to see or hear. Be an adult, until you are actually in that position and woe to those under you if that happens, I would keep my mouth shut. You may actually have to eat your own words.
STILL OLD STILL SMART.
this should have been an opinion piece • Sep 28, 2007 at 2:55 am
Why couldn’t the Collegian have made the question:
“Why aren’t advisers or the university notified in alcohol related activities?”
an opinion article in the first place…
this seems like a question that wasn’t a newsworthy article in the first place unless more facts were presented than the two articles combined, but so convoluted that the author didn’t know how to make her point. it confused a great majority (my guess) of students and the reason why the Collegian had to write an explanation that led another question as to why the first article was a news article and not an opinion article.
i pay for your funding Collegian (through student fees) so I demand high quality and not an excuse to print a bad article.
my opinion, it would have been nice to see to this as a question posed in the inside instead of the front page. too much focus on a subject that was not subjective in the first place.
The collegian may have gotten the desired the response, but lost the respect of those who expect a high quality of journalism in their school newspaper.
I am disappointed that by the length and placement of the article that the Collegian dropped the ball. Use your power of opinion and not placement. You are supported by student fees and students demand fair treatment for everyone and when you lose that and start questioning things without the significant facts to support your claims, you need to use the opinion section to retain your credibility as worthy of support from all students.
this is the one voice on campus that is read every other day during the school work. this is a great responsibility and i feel you dropped the ball in taking one concern and feeling that was so called news.
this was not news and just a 10 line opinion piece.
——–
i denounce the journalistic approach that the Collegian took to this article.
i denounce the editorial skill of the Collegian.
I am disappointed that the girl drank too much that night, but i believe most college students have those types of nights at some point and the Collegian should not be the forum to discuss this matter and I am sick that I feel compelled to write in this forum because of the lack of ability of the Collegian to ask the right people and ask the questions and place the right material in the right sections. As a journalism student, I am ashamed of the quality of the editors and will probably apply for Editor in Chief next semester to ensure that this paper paid for by students is fair to all students and held to high standards for excellence at a campus level.
ALSO…
i commend delta zeta for taking care of the girl in question.
i commend delta zeta for reviewing the matter to ensure that all procedures were followed.
i commend delta zeta for potentially saving a life as that is the most important thing at the end of the day.
this should have been an opini • Sep 28, 2007 at 9:55 am
Why couldn’t the Collegian have made the question:
“Why aren’t advisers or the university notified in alcohol related activities?”
an opinion article in the first place…
this seems like a question that wasn’t a newsworthy article in the first place unless more facts were presented than the two articles combined, but so convoluted that the author didn’t know how to make her point. it confused a great majority (my guess) of students and the reason why the Collegian had to write an explanation that led another question as to why the first article was a news article and not an opinion article.
i pay for your funding Collegian (through student fees) so I demand high quality and not an excuse to print a bad article.
my opinion, it would have been nice to see to this as a question posed in the inside instead of the front page. too much focus on a subject that was not subjective in the first place.
The collegian may have gotten the desired the response, but lost the respect of those who expect a high quality of journalism in their school newspaper.
I am disappointed that by the length and placement of the article that the Collegian dropped the ball. Use your power of opinion and not placement. You are supported by student fees and students demand fair treatment for everyone and when you lose that and start questioning things without the significant facts to support your claims, you need to use the opinion section to retain your credibility as worthy of support from all students.
this is the one voice on campus that is read every other day during the school work. this is a great responsibility and i feel you dropped the ball in taking one concern and feeling that was so called news.
this was not news and just a 10 line opinion piece.
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i denounce the journalistic approach that the Collegian took to this article.
i denounce the editorial skill of the Collegian.
I am disappointed that the girl drank too much that night, but i believe most college students have those types of nights at some point and the Collegian should not be the forum to discuss this matter and I am sick that I feel compelled to write in this forum because of the lack of ability of the Collegian to ask the right people and ask the questions and place the right material in the right sections. As a journalism student, I am ashamed of the quality of the editors and will probably apply for Editor in Chief next semester to ensure that this paper paid for by students is fair to all students and held to high standards for excellence at a campus level.
ALSO…
i commend delta zeta for taking care of the girl in question.
i commend delta zeta for reviewing the matter to ensure that all procedures were followed.
i commend delta zeta for potentially saving a life as that is the most important thing at the end of the day.