It is sometimes too easy to give someone an A for effort. In college, it usually takes more — or for some, less — than sheer will power to succeed in our classes.
The good people who put together The Odyssey at LSU every week suffer from this false sense of appreciation.
The newspaper makes its way from Greek house to Greek house once a week and generally either withers on the doorstep or in the trash can — or recycling bin — of every chapter.
Why? Because there’s nothing really worth looking at.
It’s a shame the members of the Greek community see it as a necessity to write their own weekly newspaper instead of relying on The Daily Reveille to keep them informed with goings on around campus.
It’s true, this paper is not always good to Greek life, and the Greek community often treats it in kind with disdain.
But that doesn’t mean that an alternative paper will be any more viable.
The Odyssey operates under a parent national company called Olympia Media Group, which produces newspapers on several other campuses, and prints what I guess could be perceived as news.
They self-describe as a “lifestyle publication” about topics that concern the Greek community. Yet seldom is there any hard information that could be considered newsworthy.
Every so often, one sorority member writes about how splendid another sorority’s philanthropy was, or maybe there’s a review of a Greek-wide event like last weekend’s Songfest.
However, what usually graces its pages are pieces that seem to pertain to each other in no particular way except in the question that it evokes in the reader: “Why the hell are you writing about that?”
For instance, an article featuring a columnist’s favorite books or films may be situated across the page from some philosophical jargon about how the world is coming to an end because of the Middle Eastern revolutions.
Last week, there were two articles on the same page about Yik Yak.
I’m not entirely sure what, if any, limitations are put on the writers, but there is seldom any semblance of balance, or frankly news, found within the pages of this newspaper.
Instead, The Odyssey serves as a mouthpiece for the kind of poor public relations that have been costing the Greek community its reputation for years. And, if we’re being honest, the writing can be dubious at best.
I don’t need a column explaining the 10 ways Greek members are better than their independent counterparts. Nor do I need a case for why country music is preferable to any other kind of music.
If The Odyssey wants to be appreciated for anything more than its double page of pictures, then they are going to have to start actually doing some reporting. This doesn’t seem too far-fetched considering most of its writers study mass communication or some other kind of language art.
There are issues that warrant the attention of the Greek community, but instead there are headlines like: “Decisions, Decisions: Bamma or Bonnaroo?” Is it not ‘Bama?’ Or, my personal favorite, the slightly ambiguously titled: “World Perspective.”
The best article I’ve seen recently was a restaurant review, simply because the writer had to have gotten up and paid a visit there.
Now, I’m not trying to preach from the vaunted pedestal of The Daily Reveille opinion page, I am merely trying to point out that the people who put their time and effort into producing The Odyssey should use their talents to make something that people will actually read.
I know a few of them, and they are far more dedicated than me.
But alas, the Greek community generally meets adversity with a gallant “I don’t care.”
Our chapters are well aware of what they can accomplish and how they add to LSU’s lush culture. If there is going to be a newspaper that tries to reflect this, then at least make it good.
Eli Haddow is a 21-year-old English and history junior from New Orleans.
Fraternity houses sit on LSU's campus on March 27, 2014.
