From Aaron Allen Block
Thursday, Oct 6, 2011
Dear Editor;
This is my forth year as a student here at Florida Atlantic University and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I love FAU. That being said, in all of my time here at FAU, I can truthfully say that every time that I’ve looked through the UP, I can count the number of good stories that have been printed on one hand and that includes if my fingers were worth half a point. It’s depressing that majority of the isues printed are not only biased, but down right deragatory to our wonderful school. Is FAU perfect no, no where is, and trying to get the voice of the students to those who have the power to make meaningful changes is a wonderful thing, but slandering someone isn’t how you convince them. I’ve been to many other schools around the nation whose university newspapers report accurate articles, that aren’t bogged down by a paper filled with more advertisements than stories, on the goings on around campus and can present an argument without taking a side like professional journalists should. Even if funding is tough and you’re trying to reach more students, there has to be a better method than your current one. It’s depressing that my school’s newspaper isn’t a newspaper at all, it’s more of a tabloid. More opinion than fact and more slander than story. Maybe it’s time for the UP to change? Everyone goes through change eventually right? Our beloved FAU has gone through much change, our lives have gone through an enormous amount of change, so lets have the UP changed.
James • Oct 22, 2011 at 11:30 pm
The latest UP has six stories in 24 pages. Granted, one story is 3 pages, so let’s say 8 pages. Only 33% of this paper is content. Think about that.
Dave • Oct 16, 2011 at 12:11 am
The UP argues that students will only read sensational news so the UP reads very much like a tabloid. They’re also constantly training new writers, so the writing quality is variable and eventually students get to write about what they want to write about.
The video gamer article may come from an aspiring electronic entertainment journalist – meaning someone paid to play and write about video games – who is building a portfolio. After all, that’s what college is about, right… preparing yourself for a future career.
The problem as I see it is that the University Press is ENTIRELY committed to a staff of student journalists so they can only write a handful of articles inbetween classes and side jobs and commuting and whatever else FAU students contend with. The UP would have more content if it took on full-time staff (particularly if they were alumni) who could devote M-F 8-5 to getting us FAU campus news.
That would remove any barrier from them providing the coverage we deserve.
Disappointed • Oct 15, 2011 at 1:51 am
Hit the nail on the head by comparing the UP to a tabloid! Especially when it comes to the story “Case of the girl who cried wolf…or rape”…way to already have an opinion about -what you don’t know- really happened! I was disgusted when I read that story. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 1 and 5 female college students will be the victim of rape or attempted rape, and more than 95% of those crimes go unreported. So let’s make rape victims even more afraid to report a crime because there is a great chance of having a very PUBLIC story written about their very PERSONAL attack and the UP calling them a liar. Classy University Press, classy.
Fau Senior • Oct 11, 2011 at 10:49 pm
Totally Agree with the letter’s author… Paper is biased and has nothing informative to let students know…not even a listing of events happening that week?? Less talk about video games and more talk about what’s going on!
Okay... • Oct 11, 2011 at 5:37 pm
Hey George,
I’m guessing it must be some sort of magical accident that you ended up on the UP’s website even though you don’t actually READ the paper….how ironic.
George Soros • Oct 11, 2011 at 1:33 pm
Finally someone who is willing to say what everyone is thinking! The UP is blatantly biased and is horribly written. I don’t even read the UP anymore because it’s pure dribble