Spring Break
Banner-Herald article lacks clarity
Issue date: 2/26/07 Section: Opinions
- Page 1 of 1
From time to time, the professional newspaper in Athens takes a shot at The Red & Black - today it's our turn.
As editor of this newspaper and a sorority woman, I was alarmed when I learned the Athens Banner-Herald was working on a story about the number of arrests each fraternity and sorority had in 2006.
This story, which appeared in Sunday's edition of the ABH, claimed "Of students arrested in '06, 1-in-3 were Greek members." It claims there were 651 students arrested in 2006 and there were 219 Greeks arrested, 147 fraternity men and 72 sorority women.
However, after adding up the number of arrests per each fraternity, we found that only 144 fraternity members were arrested, not 147.
According to the article, Pi Kappa Phi trumped the other fraternities with 17 arrests in 2006. Jeffery Ellis, president of Pi Kap, says 13 members of his fraternity were arrested in 2006; three brothers were arrested more than once. One of those members is no longer a brother. We never see this in the Banner-Herald's reporting.
In another article of the same edition of the newspaper, it states there were 259 students arrested in the spring and 357 in the fall - that's 616 total students arrested. The math just doesn't add up.
Yet, in the information graphic of the Banner-Herald, it says 651 students were arrested, or 2.6 percent of the undergraduate population.
Okay, that could have just been a typo. However, the Banner-Herald does state some students were arrested more than once, the numbers criticizing the Greeks do not show this fact.
The article relies on hard numbers to prove Greeks were arrested more often than non-Greek students on campus, and the numbers are wrong.
Are you getting frustrated yet? My mind is pretty boggled.
This is what I do know about how student arrests work on campus:
University Police Chief Jimmy Williamson recently told The Red & Black that every week the Athens-Clarke County Police Department sends the University a list of all college-age students (18-to 24-years-old) who have been arrested.
According to University policy, if a student has been arrested twice, he is suspended for the rest of the semester and the subsequent semester.
I know this is true because University student Tyler Addison is currently serving this sentence. However, the ABH implies if a student is arrested twice, he is suspended for two full semesters.
In an article that is supposed to factually prove how the Greek community is a statistical disappointment to the University, how can so many facts be incorrect?
The Banner-Herald spent almost a full page of space drawing unwarranted attention to a group of University students.
It never said how many University students (Greeks included) were arrested more than once, if they counted Greek pledges, students who graduated last May or students who were kicked out of their organization and are no longer part of the Greek community.
Is there any student at this University who can claim that they don't have a friend or acquaintance who has been arrested in the past year?
This isn't a Greek problem, but a University problem, which the administration is trying to remedy.
I know as a student, a Greek and a newspaper editor that Athens has a party culture that will never go away.
I know that the Greeks are at the center of this party culture because this niche of the student population chooses to frequent downtown bars more often than "normal" students.
I know this very newspaper is guilty of criticizing Greeks who have been arrested, but now I'm mad as hell and I'm saying no more.
The real story is in all the good the Greek community does for Athens. Look at the number of Greeks who are involved in mentor programs, or at the thousands of dollars raised for Dance Marathon.
We'd rather rely on those hard facts instead of sketchy statistics.
- Lauren Morgan is the Editor in Chief of The Red & Black
As editor of this newspaper and a sorority woman, I was alarmed when I learned the Athens Banner-Herald was working on a story about the number of arrests each fraternity and sorority had in 2006.
This story, which appeared in Sunday's edition of the ABH, claimed "Of students arrested in '06, 1-in-3 were Greek members." It claims there were 651 students arrested in 2006 and there were 219 Greeks arrested, 147 fraternity men and 72 sorority women.
However, after adding up the number of arrests per each fraternity, we found that only 144 fraternity members were arrested, not 147.
According to the article, Pi Kappa Phi trumped the other fraternities with 17 arrests in 2006. Jeffery Ellis, president of Pi Kap, says 13 members of his fraternity were arrested in 2006; three brothers were arrested more than once. One of those members is no longer a brother. We never see this in the Banner-Herald's reporting.
In another article of the same edition of the newspaper, it states there were 259 students arrested in the spring and 357 in the fall - that's 616 total students arrested. The math just doesn't add up.
Yet, in the information graphic of the Banner-Herald, it says 651 students were arrested, or 2.6 percent of the undergraduate population.
Okay, that could have just been a typo. However, the Banner-Herald does state some students were arrested more than once, the numbers criticizing the Greeks do not show this fact.
The article relies on hard numbers to prove Greeks were arrested more often than non-Greek students on campus, and the numbers are wrong.
Are you getting frustrated yet? My mind is pretty boggled.
This is what I do know about how student arrests work on campus:
University Police Chief Jimmy Williamson recently told The Red & Black that every week the Athens-Clarke County Police Department sends the University a list of all college-age students (18-to 24-years-old) who have been arrested.
According to University policy, if a student has been arrested twice, he is suspended for the rest of the semester and the subsequent semester.
I know this is true because University student Tyler Addison is currently serving this sentence. However, the ABH implies if a student is arrested twice, he is suspended for two full semesters.
In an article that is supposed to factually prove how the Greek community is a statistical disappointment to the University, how can so many facts be incorrect?
The Banner-Herald spent almost a full page of space drawing unwarranted attention to a group of University students.
It never said how many University students (Greeks included) were arrested more than once, if they counted Greek pledges, students who graduated last May or students who were kicked out of their organization and are no longer part of the Greek community.
Is there any student at this University who can claim that they don't have a friend or acquaintance who has been arrested in the past year?
This isn't a Greek problem, but a University problem, which the administration is trying to remedy.
I know as a student, a Greek and a newspaper editor that Athens has a party culture that will never go away.
I know that the Greeks are at the center of this party culture because this niche of the student population chooses to frequent downtown bars more often than "normal" students.
I know this very newspaper is guilty of criticizing Greeks who have been arrested, but now I'm mad as hell and I'm saying no more.
The real story is in all the good the Greek community does for Athens. Look at the number of Greeks who are involved in mentor programs, or at the thousands of dollars raised for Dance Marathon.
We'd rather rely on those hard facts instead of sketchy statistics.
- Lauren Morgan is the Editor in Chief of The Red & Black
Viewing Comments 1 - 6 of 7
Beer man
posted 2/26/07 @ 9:10 AM EST
Seems to me you took that article way too personal. You seemed to have drawn your own conclusions that I never even got from the article and you are only making the Greek community stand out even further and look worse. (Continued…)
Frank J
posted 2/26/07 @ 10:52 AM EST
Lauren, I normally agree with many of your articles, especially when you bashed those hillbillies from WVA a few years back.
However, writing this gives you the appearance of a whiner and Greek apologist. (Continued…)
JJB
posted 2/26/07 @ 11:57 AM EST
I'm only going to take a guess, but if the total is more than just the fall and spring numbers...hmmmm....let's see....do you think it may be summer arrests that account for the rest? That is only an educated guess. (Continued…)
bill
posted 2/26/07 @ 1:48 PM EST
pot calling kettle.......you've got to be joking right? This "newspaper" is one of the worst when it comes to publishing articles based on sketchy facts and hearsay. (Continued…)
Zeus
posted 2/26/07 @ 3:09 PM EST
Will you greek-sympathizers PLEASE stop complaining every time a newspaper reports crimes and other negative things frats do? The local media does not purposefully pick on frats. (Continued…)
KL
posted 2/27/07 @ 9:35 PM EST
Something that everyone needs to realize, ABH, R&B, and everyone affiliated or not affiliated with the two, is that the Greek population is only part of the bigger extracurricular community on campus. (Continued…)
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