I spent the all day working at Pinnacle Country Club at the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship. Specifically, my job was to follow Stacy Lewis through her first round at the tournament. So checking e-mail and blogging were a little difficult.

So I know this is late, but there is something I want to post tonight.

We know that Arkansas point guard Courtney Fortson is facing disciplinary action because of something he posted on Twitter, the social networking Web site, earlier this week. But why can Fortson be punished? And what type of punishment could he face?

The answers lie in the athletic department’s social networking guidelines, which were put in place this fall.

Clearly, Fortson’s tweet could be a benchmark case for the athletic department. I’m not aware of any other athlete who has been punished under these new social networking guidelines to this point. So this situation could go a long way to showing how serious the Razorbacks are about policing its athletes in the things they say or post online.

Anyway, below is the policy. Make sure to read the part in bold:

Student-athletes should be concerned with any behavior that might embarrass themselves, their families, their
teams, and/or the University of Arkansas. This includes any activities conducted online. As a student-athlete participating in intercollegiate sports at the University of Arkansas, you are a representative of the university and are
always in the public eye. Potential employers, internship supervisors, graduate programs, and scholarship committees now search these sites to screen candidates and applications. Please keep the following guidelines in mind as
you participate on social networking web sites:

Before participating in any online community, understand that anything posted online is available to anyone in
the world. Any text or photo placed online is completely out of your control the moment it is placed online – even
if you limit access to your site.

You should not post information, photos, or other items online that could embarrass you, your family, your team,
the athletic department, or the University of Arkansas. This includes information about team activities and teammates.

You cannot post any information that is proprietary to the Athletic Department which is not public information such as tentative or future schedules, or information that is sensitive or personal in nature, such as travel plans and itineraries. You are responsible for knowing the department’s Confidential and Proprietary Information Policy.

You are personally liable for any copyright violations committed, such as posting photographs, audio, or video that is not your personal property. This includes the use of the trademarks of the University of Arkansas.

You are personally liable for any violations of other students or student-athletes’ privacy rights, especially those that fall under federal privacy laws (FERPA or HIPPA) or that violate University of Arkansas student codes of conduct or codes of computing practices.

You should not post your home address, local address, social security number, phone numbers (s), birth date, or
other personal information such as your whereabouts or your plans. You could be opening up yourself to predators.

Coaches and athletic department administrators can and do monitor these web sites.

The malicious use of online social networks such as derogatory language about any member of the University of
Arkansas community, demeaning statements about or threats to any third party, and incriminating photos or statements depicting hazing, sexual harassment, vandalism, stalking, underage drinking, illegal drug use or other inappropriate behavior will be subject to disciplinary action by the head coach and/or director of athletics if they gain knowledge of such violations. Sanctions may include written notification requiring the unacceptable content be removed, temporary suspension from the team, dismissal from the team and loss of athletic aid, if applicable.

I understand and agree that I am required to know, understand and follow the standards in the University of Arkansas Department of Athletics Social Networking Guidelines for Student-Athletes, and grant permission for the monitoring the Department of Athletics.