Discussion

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Anonymous
Over 2 years ago

Is it necessary to not only publish the student’s name, but to print it as the first word in the article?

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Anonymous
Over 2 years ago

My suspicion is that The Phoenix is using its old dichotomy of arrests versus citations. That is to say that I believe The Phoenix tends to publish names for arrests, but not citations, though I could be wrong. The article, at least, says that he was technically arrested, probably because public drunkenness is an arrestable offense in PA (though is not in some other states).

(Note: That, however, doesn’t make the publication of the article with the name correct in any way. Bad move, Phoenix.)

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Anonymous
Over 2 years ago

Many similar events have occurred on and and around campus that the Phoenix has not reported. The Phoenix has also opted not to use the names of students in previous articles.

Selectively reporting news is not fair and balanced. Opting to use a student’s name in selected articles is also not fair and balanced.

Publishing an article that openly admits its lacks reliable information is ridiculous.

This is not news, it is an attack. I am disgusted that a school newspaper would go to such great lengths to punish and embarrass a member of the student body.

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Anonymous
Over 2 years ago

I am curious as to what the Phoenix hopes to gain from this article. Because several other comments have been censored I will attempt to tone down my response, but I find this appalling. All this article has accomplished is to shame a fellow, hard-working member of our community, and for what? To report on the news? No, it has made one of our peer’s already very difficult ordeal that much worse by making it public.
I think the Phoenix needs to re-evaluate what it deems as acceptable to publish and analyze the effects an article it publishes will have.

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david weeks
Over 2 years ago

I agree with shaun.
Also, the guy stole a keg tap. Probably as a joke too. He got arrested and paid 5K already. Doesn’t that sound bad enough without this?
I’m sure the person who wrote this article isn’t to blame; this was a poor choice of the editors to publish. They should take down the article and leave it at that.

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Anonymous
Over 2 years ago

What about Swarthmore’s administration allowing and even promoting more invasive illegal acts (such as streaking)?

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Jonathan Hui
Over 2 years ago

It saddens me that the Phoenix editors see no shame in their actions. A story like this is barely worthy of a tabloid and definitely not worthy of a school newspaper. To publicly humiliate a fellow student in this manner is DESPICABLE and COWARDLY.

To those responsible for this article, I hope your fellow students show more compassion to you, when you are in a time of need.

I am ashamed of my school newspaper for stooping to such an unbelievably low level.

-Huzilla

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Sam Lacy
Over 2 years ago

I understand that many comments on this article have been removed.

The Phoenix comment policy is:

“The Phoenix encourages the discussion of stories in our publication on our website as well as in Letters to the Editor. We do ask, however, that in commenting on stories on our website you follow a few guidelines to keep the discussion courteous.

While we approve most comments, we moderate all comments posted on our website to verify that they are not:

- Hateful
- Disrespectful
- A personal attack
- Unrelated to the story
- Spam
- Otherwise inappropriate"

How can you expect commenters to follow these rules when the original article and the editors’ decision to publish it was: disrespectful, a personal attack and unrelated to the news of the college?

For those of us who are disturbed by the Phoenix’s actions, the easy solution is to not read it.

Unfortunately for the student whose name is printed, anyone outside the Swarthmore community who stumbles upon the article probably won’t know that the Phoenix is not and should not be taken seriously.

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Anonymous
Over 2 years ago

I find it very telling that nobody representing the Phoenix has stepped up to defend the printing of this article.
Given the outcry, you would expect a newspaper with any self-credibility to defend itself.

-The Destroyer

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Anonymous
Over 2 years ago

“Fair and Balanced”? Isn’t that the motto for Fox News? I wouldn’t even give the Phoenix the honor of being as unbiased as Fox News.

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Anonymous
Over 2 years ago

Wow. I’m not sure what the take-away lesson is from some of these comments: that college confers some extra right of privacy upon people who get arrested? Or, is it only Swarthmore students who can invoke this right? And, what’s the other one? Oh, that it would have been okay to publish the same college student’s name had they only been accused of “robbing a convenience store”. I guess, being accused of robbery is not quite as embarrassing.

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Anonymous
Over 2 years ago

Hmmm…so it appears that some comments here are of the opinion that college students should be given special allowances (eg. exempt from media coverage when breaking the law). I digress, if students wish to be treated as adults, then consequences should be of an ‘adult, read world’ nature also. Real life media can be harsh…better to learn to deal with it now folks.

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Anonymous
Over 2 years ago

… Except, a drunk-and-disorderly with little-to-no notable criminal attachments by a random person would merit coverage in no legitimate paper.

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Shaun Kelly
Over 2 years ago

Who in the “adult world” has a newspaper article written about them for public drunkenness? My point is precisely that the article is pointless. The object of news, it seems to me, is to inform the public of that which the public has some interest in knowing (as we would if we had a violent thief among us). That end seems lost when we start writing about public drunkenness, no?

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Anonymous
Over 2 years ago

I agree that very few people in the real world have full articles about their drunkenness, but I know in my hometown newspaper, they always have a small description (~100-150 words) about the incident in the police log. The Phoenix doesn’t really have a “Police Log” section, so what were they supposed to do? Writing a full 700-1100 word article would be unnecessary, and publishing 2 sentences would seem just plain weird. They probably decided to make the article brief enough (it’s 196 words) to be considered an very small “article” but not long or in-depth enough to be an in-depth analysis of the incident.

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Anonymous
Over 2 years ago

As far as I’m concerned, if you are going to drink an inappropriate amount of alcohol in a public and uncontrolled space (especially underage), then you should be well prepared to deal with the consequences. If not, then you shouldn’t have chosen to drink that much in the first place.

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Anonymous
Over 2 years ago

You would be amazed at what incidents ‘the public has some interest in knowing’, and what some small town newspapers consider ‘news’. Public drunkeness, especially underage, is not off limits where I live. Small town America can be even smaller than Swat…everybody knows everybody else’s business, multiplied by several generations.

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Anonymous
About 2 years ago

All, read the policy page: “The Phoenix does not publish the names of students who receive police citations, although it does reserve the right to publish the names of any students who are arrested by the police. The content available on the website will accurately and fully reflect the content published in a given week’s issue. Those students whose records are expunged by court order and who would like the content on The Phoenix’s website to accordingly reflect such developments should directly contact the editor in chief. The Phoenix staff recognizes that the newspaper’s audience is a small campus community; therefore, reporters and editors continue to strive for a balance between reporting events in a factual manner and respecting the privacy of community members.”

This policy has been in effect for certainly longer than a decade, and any student arrested has had their name reported. This article does not represent unfair treatment.

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Anonymous
About 2 years ago

Anonymous, sweetie, nothing in the policy you posted necessitates that “any student arrested [have] their name reported.” Indeed, as the policy states, “reporters and editors continue to strive for a balance between reporting events in a factual manner and respecting the privacy of community members.”

So, no, there’s still plenty of room for argument within that policy.

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Anonymous
About 2 years ago

“This policy has been in effect for certainly longer than a decade, and any student arrested has had their name reported. This article does not represent unfair treatment.”

To anonymous, this is rubbish.

Simply go on the phoenix website and search “arrested”.

You’ll find that through the years many other students have been arrested for drunkenness and/or fighting on campus.

I can’t find a SINGLE incident where the name of the arrested student was revealed. Why the change in policy then?

Please do your homework and try to find a single incident before this where an arrested student’s name was revealed. If you do this, I will owe you an apology.

Here are a few examples of Phoenix policy in the past:

Feb 2005
“Bruno [name has been changed] was arrested after the Swarthmore Police arrived on campus to investigate messages about a possible fight that were relayed over Public Safety’s radio system.”

http://www.swarthmorephoenix.com/2004/11/04/news/students-arrested-hospitalized-following-ml-party

2004 ML Party
http://www.swarthmorephoenix.com/2004/11/04/news/students-arrested-hospitalized-following-ml-party

2004 UNDERAGE DRINKING
“Swarthmore police arrested a student Saturday night during a swim team party at Olde Club. The student has been charged with public drunkenness, underage drinking and carrying false identification.”

February 2007
“In the early morning hours of Sunday, Feb. 18, student actions led to police involvement in two different incidents on campus. One student was arrested for public drunkenness, while another male student received three citations as a result of a separate alcohol-related incident. Neither individual was underage.”

Clearly, the examples show a change in Phoenix Policy. I for one, would like to know why.

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