Great Piece of Writing in the Daily Campus

[Smerkins]

This was written in response to the article that came out earlier this week about sorority recruiting. Very well written!

http://www.smudailycampus.com/opinion/greeks-portrayed-unfairly

[gostangs]

Nice. A little accuracy is a nice addition to the conversation.

[whitwiki]

Clearly there's good being done. But I'm sure the hazing exists and it's a bit naive to deny that. Hazing is almost like human nature. I always wished our society was more bonobo than chimpanzee. Conflicts would be grrreeat

[NavyCrimson]

LOL!!! Good one whitwiki.

[b_caesar]

So, based on this and the other post and resulting comments about the recent Daily Campus articles referencing fraternities and sororities on campus:

- anything in support of or defending Greek orgs on campus = "good" writing / reporting
- anything potentially critical of or negative about Greek orgs on campus = "bad" writing / reporting

And here I thought that anything that was anywhere remotely associated with a discussion about the Greek system on campus was grounds for insta-deletion by the mods. Or has this discussion (and the previous thread) not degenerated enough yet to warrant such treatment?

[NewAgeMustange]

I don't know about others but I think all is fair in "reporting", but at least write material that is worthy of the school. I'm pretty sure half the pieces they have been coming out with the past few years wouldn't receive a passing grade in freshman rhetoric. I think that there is more in-depth reporting of the happenings of SMU on PF then the DC

[blackoutpony]

I was friends with the Editor of the DC when I was in school and was told point blank they were not allowed to write anything positive about any individual frats or sororities. Not even community service events. It either had to be about the system generically or negative. It was the schools rule. She was a tri delt and it drove her nuts.

[b_caesar]

I was friends with the Editor of the DC when I was in school and was told point blank they were not allowed to write anything positive about any individual frats or sororities. Not even community service events. It either had to be about the system generically or negative. It was the schools rule. She was a tri delt and it drove her nuts.

A "school rule"? Interesting. Considering the Daily Campus claims they are "the independent voice of SMU since 1915" right there on their masthead. Perhaps the Daily Campus owners or some other entity with internal influence had a grudge (or grudges) to bear and tried to pass it off to student employees as a "school rule" at the time, but it's very difficult for me to believe there was ever actually any rule like that that could have been dictated to them along those lines (and have them actually bend to that will, much less agree to it, if they were being properly taught as journalists). That sort of tinkering would require some hard proof to believe. And would certainly be worthy of some serious attention / scrutiny by the Dallas Morning News if ever there was such proof to be obtained.

[blackoutpony]

I was friends with the Editor of the DC when I was in school and was told point blank they were not allowed to write anything positive about any individual frats or sororities. Not even community service events. It either had to be about the system generically or negative. It was the schools rule. She was a tri delt and it drove her nuts.

A "school rule"? Interesting. Considering the Daily Campus claims they are "the independent voice of SMU since 1915" right there on their masthead. Perhaps the Daily Campus owners or some other entity with internal influence had a grudge (or grudges) to bear and tried to pass it off to student employees as a "school rule" at the time, but it's very difficult for me to believe there was ever actually any rule like that that could have been dictated to them along those lines (and have them actually bend to that will, much less agree to it, if they were being properly taught as journalists). That sort of tinkering would require some hard proof to believe. And would certainly be worthy of some serious attention / scrutiny by the Dallas Morning News if ever there was such proof to be obtained.

She was the chief editor and told me that point blank. It's so they "don't show any favoritism". She used the words "we're not allowed to". I was shocked, so that stuck in my brain. Maybe it was someone other than the school, but you'd think as the editor, she could if she wanted.

[PonyPride]

Really? What years was she there? I worked at the DC my entire time at SMU, and we wrote about Greek houses all the time — pro and con.

[NewAgeMustange]

I believe that I may have gone to school with BOP so I would gather a guess and say somewhere in the 07-13ish range.

[StallionsModelT]

Its one of the worst student newspapers I've ever seen. It was this way when I was there too. Just garbage.

[b_caesar]

Its one of the worst student newspapers I've ever seen. It was this way when I was there too. Just garbage.

Kinda makes you wonder about the condition of journalism education when this happens, then...

http://www.smu.edu/News/2011/journalism ... 4april2011

[CBpony]

This is laughable, sounds like they (Frats) hired a PR firm to write a fluff piece.

[Digetydog]

So, based on this and the other post and resulting comments about the recent Daily Campus articles referencing fraternities and sororities on campus:

- anything in support of or defending Greek orgs on campus = "good" writing / reporting
- anything potentially critical of or negative about Greek orgs on campus = "bad" writing / reporting

And here I thought that anything that was anywhere remotely associated with a discussion about the Greek system on campus was grounds for insta-deletion by the mods. Or has this discussion (and the previous thread) not degenerated enough yet to warrant such treatment?

I think that we all expect fraternities and sororities to be treated fairly.

When I was at SMU, I lived in a dorm for 1 year and frat house for 3 years. While there was certainly some bad behavior my some of the knuckleheads in my house, there was at least as much bad behavior by knuckleheads living on my floor in the dorm.

Tomorrow, my wife and I are meeting two of my brothers to attend the SMU/Uconn game tomorrow - decades after we attended the Miracle on Mockingbird together as undergrads.