Survey Says: FM is HOTT

We didn’t need a statistical analysis to tell us FM is the hottest publication on campus. But when one came our way, we certainly didn’t protest.

Last fall—while their classmates studied the breakability of certain brands of chalk—three intrepid students in Statistics 140: Experimental Design undertook research that was a bit more captivating. Cassandra K. Wolos ’06, Alexander S. Captain ’06, and Ruthie B, Birger ’06 decided to investigate the question most central to the integrity of the student press: whether or not the Crimson is visually representative of the student body. They randomly selected students pictured in the daily and FM, then pulled the most flattering shots of them, the college facebook photos. The freshman week style gaffes of the group’s subjects were on full display in a survey that asked other students to rate the hotness of the subjects.

Unsurprisingly, the FM subjects were rated significantly higher when compared both with a control group of randomly selected students and those depicted in the daily. As for the daily versus the norm—well, there wasn’t any statistically significant difference there.

Kudos to the daily for photojournalistic accuracy. Here at FM, we’re content to stick with the lookers.