I am the president of Traditions Commission and one of the student chairs of Homecoming, as well as one of the people on the Homecoming Court. I am a little upset with the article that was written Thursday about Homecoming by Marina Charny. I am very upset a newspaper as popular on Syracuse campus as The Daily Orange does not do any research about the articles it prints. It was very disturbing to hear about this Homecoming article and how many things are not correct. I understand this article is an ‘opinion’ article, but with content like Homecoming, the writer should at least do some research before writing a story, and the editor should review the story to ensure the facts are represented. As a Newhouse student, I took NEW 205: ‘News Writing’ and know that the objective of a newspaper is to truthfully inform the public.

With that being said, here are a few of the mistakes in the article that are easily fixable with a little research or an interview:

-The reason behind having no parade, bonfire or pep rally is because of the NBA game Oct. 16, as well as the kick off time of the Homecoming football game (noon). We have no control, as the Office of Student Activities, to decide either of these events. The NBA preseason game created a lot of conflict because we knew we would not get the desired attendance.

-The band is playing at 9 a.m. on Saturday because of the kick off time of the game (which I believe was not decided through Syracuse).

-The barbecue was inside last year and was a huge hit, with both students and alumni. This event was moved inside two years ago because of the weather at Syracuse — it’s cold.

-We are not cutting back any events willingly. These events (like the bonfire) were cut back because our hands were tied due to the NBA game.

-Homecoming Court is going to be announced. This year it will be at the Homecoming game, right before halftime. Honestly, I think this is cooler than the past. When someone votes, the page following the vote states the announcement will happen at the game, so if Marina voted and read that page, she would have known about the announcement.

-This year was the best yet with marketing: We tabled at dining halls with popcorn that had the dates of Orange Central 2010 and its website, attended meetings and even tried to work with the radio and TV stations on campus, as well as handed out fliers and hung them up.

-We provide free food all week long. If anyone is interested in coming to the events, my name, as well as those of the other tri-chairs, is easily attainable through minor research on the website. As well as plenty of people who were informed somehow or another prior to Homecoming to come receive their free shirts and food.

-We try to get as many students involved as possible, but we can only do so much. We can’t drag students to events — it’s up to the students at some point.

-Finally, we have had two separate reunions in the past, but because that didn’t work as well, we have switched to one, together.

Personally, I have gotten involved and enjoyed every minute of Homecoming these past four years. It is upsetting the Homecoming planning committee had to read this article and feel as though we couldn’t do more than we did. This article was brought to my attention by a friend on the committee, and we would honestly like an apology, but I’m sure that won’t be done — but don’t worry, we know Marina did no research.

Beth Anne Kieft

Senior management major

 

Published on October 17, 2010 at 12:00 pm