I've been aware of this no-hyphen trend, and I think that in some sense, as a beta, you become the House Rules.

I used to do a lot of proofreading for a scholarly website... and I basically took a stance on several instances and stuck to my guns. My personal bugbears are apostrophes, to be sure, but hyphens can be of concern...

I think it's going to prove to be the wave of the future that more and more compound words will simply be jammed together. But I do insist that modifying words be hyphenated correctly, for example Nineteenth-century literature. :)

I'd say that when you beta you should just let the writer know that you intend to put in hyphens where needed, and that you will apply hyphens consistently across the text.

In this lackadaisical world, where very few people can use it's appropriately, consistency is beauty -- and rigor is even better!

Also, as a nineteenth-century reader, I tend to add rhetorical commas (which I then try to go back and edit out), but I think at least a New Yorker level of comma use is clear and useful for the reader.

cheers!


PS, this is a real sign from near where I grew up. The grammar of it (or lack thereof) fascinated me for years!