As the leaders of Board CXXV of The Phillipian relinquish their editorial positions, the 126th board now assumes control of the publication. This issue marks the first of the incoming board after selections in the paper’s new leadership were announced earlier in the week. Since the beginning of Winter Term, the outgoing board has worked assiduously to teach members of CXXVI how to edit articles properly and to construct the layout for each section. CXXV Co-Editors-in-Chief Michael Ruderman ’03 and Paul Sonne ’03 turned over their posts to former News Associate Clem Wood ’04. Wood will lead the paper along with News Director Olivia Oran ’04 and Managing Editor Jenny Wong ’04. Ruderman reflected on his tenure, remarking, “After an excellent year working on The Phillipian, I have tremendous confidence in the upcoming leadership that they will be able to continue the work that we have done since last February. Clem, Olivia, and Jenny are excellent leaders with a strong dedication to the paper. The paper will be in strong hands.” “It has been a great year,” Sonne echoed. “We have had our fair share of catastrophes and hardships, but all in all, it was a wonderful experience. I will truly miss seeing everyone on the board on a regular basis because they have really become like a second family to me.” Despite the high pressure that Wood will undoubtedly face, he remains enthusiastic about his new post. “Over the course of the past year, The Phillipian has made great strides in terms of the quality of its news writing and of its front page layout,” he said. “I hope that we will be able to maintain the high standards set by Rudy and Paul in the development of the paper’s general appearance and to improve upon their legacy as editors. Although CXXV brought a great group of kids to the table, I cannot imagine a better team to work with than CXXVI to produce an informative, readable paper every week.” Oran also expressed optimism about her position as News Director, a role which had been previously filled by Ruderman before former Editor-in-Chief John Gilbert’s sudden departure over the summer. She hopes to model her position as similar to Ruderman’s was and to create a “news empire.” Oran also looks to increase the readership of the paper by pushing creative limits with new, innovative ideas and reports. Incoming Managing Editor Wong looks forward to transforming the paper with the many skills she acquired from former Editor-in-Chief Sonne. She remarked, “Seeing as the previous board had a managing editor for only one term, I found that I received my instruction from all members of the board. Sonne, the managing editor before the ‘distressing incident’ [Gilbert’s departure], has become a guiding force in my life. In gratitude, I shall devote the blank space in my middle name to Paul. Also, I would like to note the incredible guidance of former Features Editors Duncan ‘I Love It When You Call Me Big Papa’ Dwyer ’03 and Craig ‘Okay, Big Papa’ Ferarro ’03.” The dynamic duo of former News Editors Courtney “McB” McBride ’03 and Shanshan Jiang ’03 will pass their role on to Saidi “But call me Sandy” Chen ’04. Chen said, “Shanshan and CMcB both set a great example for me with how editors should act… Actually, they scare me.” Chen will work in conjunction with Senior News Associate Rohit Acharya ’04, who will lend his spicy flavor to the News team. Jeremy Beecher ’04 and Alanna Hughes ’04 will assume the position of Commentary Editors from Stephen Fee ’03 and Tara Gadgil ’03. Fee expressed his sentiments on the past year, “I think that, as a board, we set a new precedent – besides losing an Editor-in-Chief. We were responsible, we put out a good paper, we had terrific pieces in Commentary, and we had a board in which the majority of us could be professional and downright offensive at the same time.” He added, “All I can hope for is that CXXVI will do the same.” As former Sports Editors Evan Panich ’03 and Emily O’Brien ’03 and Senior Associate Will Heidrich ’04 depart, the Sports team will be comprised of Editors J.J. Feigenbaum ’04 and Kristina Chang ’04 and Senior Associate Alex Vispoli ’04. O’Brien noted, “Although I am sad to leave the paper, I have to admit that I lived every day in fear that Panich would leap over the tables and strangle me.” To which Panich replied, “Uhhhh…yeah.” Steve Travierso ’04 and Katie Folkman ’04 will replace Boo Littlefield ’03 and Sam Beattie ’03 as Arts editors. Along with Senior Arts Editor Lizzy Fraser ’04, Travierso and Folkman hope to continue Arts’ long-standing tradition of not criticizing plays no matter how bad they may be and stealing mochas from Starbucks. Littlefield remarked, “I have full faith in the editors whom I have named, judging from the work which they have done the past few weeks. They really put their hearts into their jobs and progressed a lot.” However, Littlefield admitted, “Katie is a little on the wild side. She really needs to work on her inside voice.” Travierso noted, “Boo is like a sister to me. Sam is like my mom’s friend’s uncle’s hairdresser’s brother.” Both Travierso and Folkman confessed that they will really miss Sam’s head banging to terrific German techno music, but will not miss Boo’s anger management problems. Former Features Editors Dwyer and Ferraro, as well as Senior Associate Evan McGarvey ’03, relinquished their posts as the (occasionally) funnymen of campus to Jasper Perkins ’04 and Derrick Kuan ’04. “I want to continue the fine tradition that Duncan and Craig set for me and keep breaking things and being politically incorrect,” Kuan said. “I am so excited about Features you just don’t understand,” Perkins said. Dwyer and Ferraro could not be reached for comment. However, if the two were able to be reached for comment, they might say something like this: “Yo, Phillipian… It was tight. It was really hot not editing articles and leaving right after board meetings. Holla.” Meanwhile, Jacqui Bovaird ’04 and Fan Wang ’04 will replace Justine Wardrop ’03 and Justin Ng ’03 as Head of Photography and Photography Editor, respectively. “I am sure that Jacqui will head all of photography with finesse,” Ng remarked. “Fan will bring much needed humor to those late Evans nights.” Former Copy Editor Ashley Corneau ’03 has assembled a team of copy editors for CXXVI, a group composed of Patrick Holkins ’04, Aya Hamano ’04, and Winnie Tsang ’04. “We take great pride in the strong ethnic diversity of the copy editing family,” Corneau remarked. On taking the helm, Wood remarked, “I am excited to lead the paper, but it will certainly be difficult to fill the big shoes of the outgoing board.”
