Nobody’s Perfect
Article By: Alex Pearlman
Last week’s article regarding the inconsistencies in both punishments and recorded numbers of the Ride Along Program predictably stirred up a number of opinions on campus, mostly in regards to the suggestion that Suffolk’s underage Orientation Leaders aren’t perfect.
Well, who is?
The Journal received a number of angry phone calls demanding we release the names of anonymous sources used for the article, as well as complaints from student OLs who believe that one vague sentence about their program in the Suffolk Journal will significantly impact their ability to be hired after graduation.
First, I would like to point out that the Ride Along Program and the University administration’s apparent targeting of certain students while they allow others to fly under the radar has been a pet project of the Journal staff since its inception four years ago. The numbers the office of Student Affairs records of students who are apprehended and punished are consistently wrong, confusing, and mysteriously change randomly, which the Journal has concluded is either an evil attempt to doctor them in an effort convince the Beacon Hill Civic Association that Suffolk students are far less rowdy than those at other schools and that the school’s Institutional Master Plan (aka the hostile takeover of downtown) should proceed – or the people adding the numbers up are unable to use a calculator. Either way, it is clear the program is both unfair and probably illegal. It is also clear that the punishments for being a student leader, overage and off campus are significantly harsher than those for student leaders who are underage and on campus. The design flaws of this university’s policies abound. This was the point of the article, not to rag on OLs.
Second, demanding that a newspaper divulge confidential sources, even one as seemingly unimportant as this one, is ludicrous. The writers at the Journal abide by all the same standards and ethics as reporters at real world, professional dailies. The assertion from the Summer Programs and Orientation Office that something in the Journal “might be made up” because we wouldn’t reveal sources whose confidentiality was promised is not only insulting to the student journalists at this paper and the rest of the school, but it shows a lack of respect for facts.
My third point is this: Students in college drink underage, even the best ones. To think that because Orientation Leaders, SGA e-board members and Suffolk Journal editors don’t occasionally break laws and school rules because of their positions at Suffolk is nuts! And what’s even crazier is that students take their summer OL jobs so seriously that they’ll threaten Journal editors and insist that one sentence in one issue of a student newspaper will negatively impact their futures. Yeah, because the HR people at the places you’re trying to get a job most certainly will have read last week’s issue and not hire you because some OLs drank in the dorms when they were underage. OH MY GOD, people drink underage when they’re in college? In the dorms? You’ve got to be kidding me!!
Reality check, please. Donahue building, fourth and fifth floors.
Related items
This post was written by
I'm a 23-year-old journalist, dead set on breaking something big sometime soon. I love the John Adams miniseries, Aaron Sorkin, and reading Time magazine in bed with a glass of red wine. My interests range from libertarianism to beer bongs to the New York Times crossword puzzle to WikiLeaks. This box will one day read: Alex Pearlman, Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent. Also, I'm the Editor in Chief of The Next Great Generation.
What is almost as sad is that the Suffolk Journal considers itself to be of quality. I think a true reality check is needed, not by student leaders, but by the Journal.
If anyone should be worried about getting a job after graduation, its those associated with the journal; as their work probably will be referenced for a potential job. From what I have seen, there is not much work to be proud of.
Best of luck!
“What is almost as sad is that the Suffolk Journal considers itself to be of quality. I think a true reality check is needed, not by student leaders, but by the Journal.”
first of all, I’m proud of what I’ve written at my tenure at the Suffolk Journal and I would gladly reference anything I’ve written for this newspaper in any potential job. I highly doubt having published work in a school newspaper can hurt your chances on a job application.
second of all, regarding the story about the ride along program, I’ve heard a lot of complaining about bad publicity, but I defy anyone to disprove anything that was written in that article. Good journalism sometimes yields results that are embarrassing or damaging for certain parties. That’s the nature of the business. Furthermore, as the student newspaper of Suffolk University, it would irresponsible NOT to expose the details to the student body at large. You disprove to me anything that was written in that article, and I will admit it was irresponsible and poor journalism on behalf of this paper, but as far as I can tell the only complaints being lodged on are behalf of damaged reputations, not factual inaccuracies. To be quite frank, if your feelings were hurt or delicate sensibilities were damaged boo friggin hoo nobody cares.
third of all, “lets be real” it’s easy to criticize behind an anonymous moniker, I dare you to give your real name. you wont do it.