Blantant Pimping

Ugh. Usually I laugh these things off. I guess I am feeling frisky today.

The NTDaily , student newspaper for our beloved UNT wrote the article I linked to. Well, I suppose the paper didn't write it. Rather it was written by Courtney Roberts. Really, it doesn't matter. Given the facts that a) Its the NTDaily and not the NYTimes, and b) these people writing it are learning and are not pros, I just kind of laugh at the bad writing and chuckle at the half-assed reporting. It's like watching a toddler learn to walk, ya know?

Now, by no means am I saying that I could do it better. Just like I don't say I can make a better movie than Hottie and the Nottie. No, I am not saying that. However, I can recognize bad/crappy/half-ass writing when I see it. No doubt the same way you can recognize that Hottie and the Nottie was total crap and avoided it like the swine flu.

So. What stood out here? Well things like this:

In addition to the Woodhill Apartments, other complexes in Denton that do not
have sprinkler systems in their buildings include Camino del Sol and Gazebo
Apartments.

So they are the only other ones that don't? They are two of the few?
Really, I think she and Mary (the other chick credited in the actual paper-paper.) just took a look around and asked Camino-which is right across the driveway from Woodhill- and Gazebo-which is right near the school- if they had sprinkler systems. Now, I understand laziness. I mean, just look at this blog.

So what's the big deal? Well, it looks like they were lazy in finding out the majority of apartment complex's sprinkler policies, or they did their homework but just didn't report it well. If they didn't want to hunt down every complex for a quote they could have just focused on the ones with the highest percentage of students. What does that do? It makes the story matter to us. Us as in students. Students as in the readers of the NTDaily.

Now let's look here:

Ashley Gregory, the assistant manager at Camino del Sol, said although the
buildings do not have sprinkler systems, fire extinguishers and smoke detectors
are in each apartment."We took over the property in 2006 from Greystar
Property," Gregory said. "At the time, the city of Denton did not require us to
follow the newer codes."Gregory said that Camino del Sol management has no plans
to implement sprinkler systems at this time."We had a fire a year ago and I've
seen fire sprinklers do some damage to a property," she said.

Well, aside from poor Ashley having to defend Westdale Asset Management (the company who owns Camino Del Sol) and sounding defensive rather than proactive, (Someone needs PR training, no?) our crack reporters show signs of being actual media members-- they show their bias.

City Parc At Fry Street, Uptown and The Forum apartments do, however, have
sprinkler systems. ..... We go above and beyond the code," said Patti Fultz, community manager at The Forum. "We have both sprinkler systems and ample fire extinguishers. It's the safest way to go. We spare no expense in providing the most to residents."While most apartment complexes recommend their residents to have renters insurance in case of a fire or an accident, Fultz said that The Forum requires that residents have renters insurance under their parents' homeowner's policy

Really? Wow. All that is well, and good unless you know that City Parc, Uptown, and the new Forum are all Student Apartments. As in, they have agreements with the school. Camino, Gazebo, and Woodhill are all independent. As in: They don't charge 400 bucks per room and rake in the dough. We are comparing apples and oranges.... unless we are trying to prove that Student Living is awesome, OMG!

So that was my biggest nit to pick. The article has the appearance of informing us on regional apartment safety concerns but ends up being a plug for OMG! STUDENT LIVING TOTALLY ROCKS!!!!1.