Comments from Nov. 17 Crime Log

76 Comments

• Allie H

  November 17, 2011
  10:33 pm

  This is the final comment I’ll make, as many are upset and voicing their own opinions as warranted.

  The writers and editors are learning, yes. Like many of those who commented here, I made numerous mistakes as a writer and editor during my time at The Whit, as is expected when students are learning and practicing a new trade. But because The Whit is operating under the safe umbrella of education does not mean it is granted the liberty to print ill-researched personal attacks on students. As another reader has noted, there is incorrect information here about what the RA in question may have done or had the authority to do.

  The Opinion section is not a free-for-all. This is a personal, bullying attack on a student, based on what appears as a personal bias. It is your duty as editors and practicing reporters-in-training to make ethical decisions about what is appropriate, newsworthy and fair, as well as what constitutes satire and humor. You do have the right to print what you did, but that doesn’t mean you should.

  As a learning experience, I suggest reading the Society of Professional Journalists code of ethics as a staff. Some highlights:

  — Avoid stereotyping by race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, geography, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance or social status. 
  — Recognize that gathering and reporting information may cause harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance.
  — Admit mistakes and correct them promptly.
  — Show good taste.

  I would happily, as a fiercely proud alumna and practicing journalist, talk with any students about writing, at any time. Many Whit alumni would do the same.
• Kathryn Quigley

  November 17, 2011
  10:35 pm

  The Whit staff read the comments and apologized. The link is posted above.
• 2011 Alum

  November 17, 2011
  10:53 pm

  I’m all for free speech, but I like the public outcry on this. The student cannot walk away from this thinking that it’s okay to write that. Not from a legal perspective, but from the perspective of having a little bit of class.

  This is pretty on par for the Whit, though. I remember when I read the Whit regularly it was full of grammatical errors & spelling problems. Aren’t their copy editors _paid_? Too much, it would seem.
• Deb

  November 17, 2011
  11:05 pm

  Katherine, as a journalism professor, you might want to re-investigate the meaning of “slander.” Attacking someone for their religion — and going past that to attack the whole denomination — is completely appalling. No excuse. This isn’t “free speech” — this is continued harassment.

  Note that if derogatory comments had been left on a Muslim’s dry-erase board, you and the whole WHIT crew would likely be up in arms and would never dream of making such degrading comments about the victim.

  This piece tarnishes Rowan in a serious way. And defending it only makes it worse.
• Rowan Alum

  November 17, 2011
  11:10 pm

  Never liked the crime log never will. This is what happens when people try and make light of what may be serious situations. And on an aside the crime logs never even funny anyway. Obviously this week its way off but its always lame. Get rid of it Whit.
• Robert Press

  November 18, 2011
  12:22 am

  Technically speaking, as a journalism professor Ms. Quigley probably couldn’t care less about slander since it has nothing to do with the written word.

  That’s only for us journalism nerds to giggle about, though.
• Adam D. Dobrowolski

  November 18, 2011
  12:22 am

  As a former staff writer for three years, all I can think of is how weak this Crime Log was for turning one report into a misguided soapbox.

  Was the RA wasting the Rowan Police’s time for reporting this as harassment? That’s debatable.

  Was the RA a bit thin-skinned for not ignoring? Again, possible.

  Are some overreacting to suggest a lawsuit? Easily.

  Was Brian helping the issue by saying something totally stupid? Absolutely not.

  “In my opinion these three students might all be Jesus fractioned out into three people….I really hope this girl has no friends, and if she does then I hope her friends are just her friends because she has an awesome house and a hot mom and they don’t really like her.”

  Seriously, that part was pathetic.

  My problem here is now that I’M REPRESENTED when people read The Whit. I don’t care if it’s freedom of speech. This Whit staff has an obligation to themselves, the university and the paper’s former writers to put out quality materials. How can I feel 100% safe in referencing this website in a resume when such juvenile material is published?

  The solution is simple: start reporting about more ACTUAL NEWS. Where’s the reporting on the cross country team making the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP? How about coverage for Veteran’s Day, where WGLS helped to read names in the Student Center? (And they covered it live on its stream!)

  Instead, there was more graphs dedicated the widely discussed Penn State scandal. Sorry, boys and girls, but nobody’s reading The Whit for your take on PSU.

  Yes, these are students who are learning, but it’s common sense that a big part of this was distasteful. In no way, shape or form was this fit to be published.

  I’ll tell you this: if this was last year, and I saw this as a copy editor, there’s NO WAY on Earth I allow that to be published.

  P.S.: Even Tebow comments were misguided. He’s a great fantasy quarterback, because he actually runs the ball! That’s just yet another cheap jab that completely failed.
• rowan student

  November 18, 2011
  12:24 am

  What all the people who keep saying this is not a big deal realize this. If this girl had no friends and was going through depression she would be probably dead by suicided by now. A simple article which attacks a person can go a long way.
• Evan Edinger

  November 18, 2011
  12:28 am

  Did they let the middle schoolers write an article for The Whit again? Because that’s what it feels like.
• Adam D. Dobrowolski

  November 18, 2011
  12:30 am

  And for the record, I dislike the religious intolerant as much as the next free-minded person. However, this complaint to the Police requires no insults to the RA. For all the lack of evidence that the three students in question committed the “crime,” there is just as little evidence that this RA was being religiously sensitive.

  Perhaps the RA saw it as a PERSONAL ATTACK, like with this Crime Log?

  Best of luck on the post-Thanksgiving edition, Whit writers. Now more will be watching with a critical eye.
• A Teacher/alumni

  November 18, 2011
  12:38 am

  Is this a joke? This is disgusting. Have you NOT watched the news about students who take their lives after things like this? How dare the Whit even publish this. This is like what many others have said; continued harassment. There are rules and RAs for a reason. Yes, it is college, but the students were ignorant of the rules and were foolish enough to post pictures to their Facebook pages. I’m ashamed of The Whit writers and ashamed that this was published. Have some class. There are anti-bullying laws and there are rules in the Rowan handbook if you look them up. I know this family and they are all wonderful good hearted people. This young lady that is being targeted has a lot of friends because she is a good person. I hope that this gets reported and I hope that the writers and the those involved in this harassment case get punished to the fullest extent. By the way Whit writers, I have a writing arts degree from Rowan. You should probably go and speak to a few people about the difference between harassment and free speech. You’re all ignorant. The Whit can go ahead and apologize. It won’t change that this was published and thousands of people have already read it. I feel bad for those who read this and laugh without knowing this young lady and her family. Put yourself in her shoes. Grow up. If you are the writer of this article, perhaps you should stop writing for the Whit, and apologize to this young lady yourself. Please know that actions are taking place for this and that all those involved will be held accountable.
• Just Saying

  November 18, 2011
  12:46 am

  This is the very reason why student newspaper advisors should have control over the content submitted in the newspaper. I get that this is pure opinion but isn’t opinion censored in a student supported/ run university newspaper? Not from what I know of. There are always several sides of every story and i think you all need to check the sources before you allow someone to go off writing things that may not even be true. Especially when it comes to bringing down those who were simply acting in response to their job expectations and duties. Seriously, check it before you wreck it. Do us all a favor by removing this nonsense. It’s simply embarrassing and not a good PR move for all involved.
• 001

  November 18, 2011
  1:29 am

  Tough titties
• anon

  November 18, 2011
  3:04 am

  put yourself in this poor girls shoes right now. like realize that this is a real girl that you wrote these horrible things about. this is straight up bullying published in the school paper for all of her fellow students and her teachers to see. And way too much information was revealed about her. The line was crossed way too many times and i hope the author of this article realizes how much he potentially (and probably) hurt this girl. saying he has no shame in saying he hopes she has no friends just because she was doing her job is disgusting. And saying that the authorities were wasting their time by addressing harassment associated with catholicism because there are other religions that deserve more attention is just ignorant and offensive in so many ways. And then saying that the people who harassed her should have done worse to her is uncalled for on so many levels. And why in the world would you pick a case about harassment to make fun of in this article…thats just cruel. It obviously bothered her enough to call public safety on those accounts, how did you think she, and others, would react to this…
• Eric Nelson

  November 18, 2011
  11:47 am

  The writer of this article should feel proud for his 7th grade writing style and attack on an innocent RA for doing her job. I hope that you can sleep at night knowing the serious pain you have probably just put the RA in. You my friend, are a disgrace to all journalists and that is a FACT
• Bonnie T

  November 18, 2011
  1:03 pm

  A couple of question for Brian:
  1. Would you write an article asking “where was the RA” if a student was found dead after binge drinking in a dorm room?Would you question why a RA would turn his or her back on students who were under age drinking?
  2. If someone put a swastika or the “N” word on someone’s dry erase board would you think that person should just turn it over?
  It took courage and a strong moral compass for this RA to take the action she did. We should commend her for doing her job and nipping prejudice in the bud.
  By the way, she does have friends. She has a friend in Jesus and she has a friend in Me!!
• W

  November 18, 2011
  1:26 pm

  As a journalism major at Rowan, and a reporter for a local newspaper, I’m appalled that The Whit’s staff would allow such a blatant attack on a student’s employment responsibility for the university, not to mention her religious orientation which clearly was unnecessary in the story to begin with. I find it hard to believe that the writer of the crime log couldn’t find a crime more appealing to the audience than an alcohol write-up to use this week. Nevertheless, I’m continually glad I don’t write for The Whit after I see things like this published.
• Mike

  November 18, 2011
  1:41 pm

  So now it’s OK to publish an anti-Christian “opinion”? And it’s OK make “opinion” judgments on how an RA assess a situation and does her job to protect students and declare it “bogus”? And it’s OK to have an “opinion” that makes personal attacks? So when you disagree with someone it’s OK to ridicule and belittle if that’s your “opinion”?

  If you’re trying to be funny it isn’t working.

  As a Catholic parent of past and present Catholic students I’m not impressed.

  It’s OK to have an “opinion”. It’s not OK to have an “opinion” without consequence.
• Jim S

  November 18, 2011
  1:49 pm

  Wow. This is a clear case of bullying. You can say that the RA was not mentioned. However, the author knew who he was talking about and the RA knows it was about her. What was the authors intent? To reinforce the initial bullying that the RA reported? To have the RA not do her job? To have the RA feel foolish? Did he want students to not feel safe on campus because no one is looking out for them?

  By putting this in the Whit make it seem like the school supports this attitude. What is the policy on harassment, intimidation or bullying?
• KD

  November 18, 2011
  2:52 pm

  As a Journalism major at Rowan, I feel absolutely terrible for this RA. Harassment in any form is appalling and shouldn’t happen so blatantly on campus. On one hand, this makes me so glad to have barely contributed to The Whit during my time here, but on the other, I also think it’s a wake up call to the Journalism department and other writers in the school. The paper desperately needs help! If there was enough staff, maybe (hopefully) something like this wouldn’t fall through the cracks so easily. Brian, I’ve seen you in class and I don’t think you come off like an inherently bad person, so I’d suggest personally writing an apology letter to the RA– scripted with some thought in it.
• A Pimp Named Slickback

  November 22, 2011
  7:07 pm

  Maybe this girl should have just left her roommates alone rather than being a complete Dbag and none of this never would have happened…
• DAM

  November 22, 2011
  8:28 pm

  Where to start. I have to guess that if this many people are getting up in arms than this must be a serious, serious issue. I guess that everyone needs to come to the defense of the poor defenseless girl whose responsibility is to look after a group of young adults who get to experience life outside their parents home for the first time. Of course these students are reasonable and act with nothing but civility and respect to all authority figures. Oh wait, scratch that, they’re a bunch of hormone ridden thrill seeking youths who would like to act out against any type of authority figure. Maybe instead of everyone being concerned about a writer trying to make humor over a silly situation, they should be concerned with who is actually governing over the students in the dorms. For crying out loud, calling the police over someone writing FU on a board designed for writing? It’s not like someone has perpetually left flaming bags filled with dog excrement. On top of it all how conceited must this RA be to believe that just because she wrote up students that they conceived a devious plot as how to extract the revenge. I can picture it now.

  Student A “Can you believe what she did to us the nerve of her.”

  Student B “I know we have to get her back in a vile way. A way so demeaning to he as a person that not only will she will never ever forget, but will spend endless nights crying over and over again about it.”

  Student C “That’s right! We have to let her know that she can’t get away with this.”

  Student A “I got it! You know how she puts WWJD on her board? Well lets put a FU after it!”

  Students B & C “That’s it!!!!”

  I mean I’ve heard of some horrifying insulting things done to a person to get a point across, but those three students really honed in on the best way to get it done. They should probably write a how to book as for harassment.

  Maybe everyone needs to relax, take a look at the situation as it is and laugh. Oh and for anyone who tried to say that he bashed Tebow, did you read the ending? Concerning Tebow “until he won your heart back in the last time minutes with rushing touchdowns.” I mean come on who doesn’t love Tebow, he’s just a wonderful person. Oh and I would seriously recommend Rowan have a better screening process of just how tough skinned the students are that they select to be an RA, because clearly they are going to have to deal with someone disapproving of the authority they try to dispense.
• Ticklish Cage

  November 22, 2011
  11:38 pm

  I guess the first amendment does not cover talking about religion. If you took the time and looked back through his previous articles he makes fun of drunk driving, graffiti, drunk fighting, drugs and has made religious jokes before, so what makes this article different? And to all the people saying what if this RA had her feelings hurt and decided to commit suicide, what about all the personal attacks BY NAME on a student. What if he takes this thread to seriously and he decides to off himself? I think everyone in this thread needs to take a lesson from Jesus and learn to turn the other cheek, just like Tebow would have probably done. Or take a lesson from your mother and recite “sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt me”.
• Margret McPoyle

  November 25, 2011
  8:50 pm

  I am a very good friend of Brian’s and have read a lot of his previous work for The Whit. Using Elle Wood’s winning argument “Why now? Why this sperm?” Why has everyone chosen to make a hoopla about this article and not others that have been published under the same editorial staff? I understand some comments made in the article may have been a little harsh, but things are only as bad as you make them out to be. I read through some comments but then got bored reading the same opinions over and over again. There was a comment that focused heavily on Brian’s use of his opinion. Oh? I’m sorry? We’re supposed to keep those to ourselves now? The real issue at hand is everyone’s goal seems to be finding out who the “winner” is. There are clearly drawn sides which is natural to happen during a controversy, but why does one need to be “right”? The only thing anyone should be doing is agreeing to disagree. I myself have a healthy sense of humor so I found the article humorous. Others, naturally, we’re highly offended that 9lb 6oz baby Jesus was brought on to the table clad only in his tuxedo T-shirt. In conclusion if you don’t like the way my lawn looks don’t shit in my yard. I mean last time someone tried to change everyone’s opinion we lost a lot of lives. So here’s to you Anne Frank, and whatever you do, don’t drink the Kool-Aid.
• Dumb

  December 1, 2011
  11:31 am

  I like how the writer obviously had the lack of a spine to have his lunatic friends (see the last four comments) rally together to write a bunch of sad attempts at opposing arguments.

  I mean come on dude if you’re going to do that you should at least get them to space them out between the 70 comments all agreeing that what you did was stupid/unanimously deciding that you’re a terrible writer.

  Hey, at least I don’t have to associate with you or your obviously stupid friends. I can just imagine the moronic and hateful conversations that you must all have together. It’s just an indication of how much you must hate yourself.
• Former RA

  December 6, 2011
  2:06 pm

  I was a Rowan RA for a time, and in having friends on campus that were both RAs and regular residents, I can say for sure that Residence Life does not address conflicts involving RAs who live with residents. I’ve seen both sides of the problem with both residents and RAs being victimized.

  It’s apparent that the inherent powers and responsibilities that RAs have make it difficult to live with people they’re supposed to be supervising. I knew of a case that involved an RA terrorizing the others in their apartment. Nothing was done. No one was willing to stick up for the residents. The same goes for when the RA is the victim. The department does not intervene, and they simply encourage the RA to become more assertive.

  The recent changes to staff structure has only worsened the situation because no one knows who’s responsible for what, and RAs and RDs are given overwhelming workloads. There is a lack of balance between being a Residence Life staff member and being a student. The incident in the crime log is just another testament to the problem at hand.