To the Editor: As a recently graduated alumnus of the Philomathean Society, I try to stay appraised of the activities of my old debate club. I read last week’s article on Philo’s home invitational tournament with great interest, hoping to see how things went for my debate friends who are still at Andover. When I saw that Adam Tohn ’10 qualified for the Worlds Individual Debating and Public Speaking Tournament, I was elated. A hard worker, brilliant orator and good man, Mr. Tohn represents the best of Philo. I would never want to take anything away from his amazing accomplishment. But when I read that article, I realized that this newspaper had taken something away from another debater whose performance for some reason appeared not to merit mention. This was not, as the article stated, the first Worlds-qualifying tournament of the fall. Jennifer Schaffer ’10, Co-President of the Philomathean Society, qualified for Worlds at a tournament in October of this year. Each year, only a handful of debaters from each country are good enough to earn an invitation to this tournament. Debaters who attend Worlds are peerless in their eloquence and wit. Qualifying for Worlds is, to say the least, kind of a big deal. If an Andover student qualifies, The Phillipian should publish an article about it. That is what journalists do; they print current, newsworthy stories. In this case, the paper failed in its duty to cover newsworthy happenings in the Andover community. This was either a case of extreme negligence, or it was a deliberate omission the motivations for which I cannot begin to fathom. Since the News Editors could not have been ignorant of Ms. Schaffer’s accomplishment—she is their colleague and works in the same office—and the paper was quick to report stories of PA students qualifying for Worlds in years past—not to mention Mr. Tohn’s recent qualification—, it seems exceedingly likely that this was a deliberate omission. Whatever the motivations were, speculation will do nothing to correct poor journalism. The Phillipian should apologize to Ms. Schaffer and immediately publish an article covering her accomplishment. Although this won’t change the fact that the paper screwed up, it can at least give Ms. Schaffer the attention her victory deserves and journalistic ethics require. Whatever course its editors choose to take, I hope The Phillipian regrets the error as much as I do. Sincerely, Chase Ebert ’09 Editor’s Note: I can unequivocally say that there were no deliberate omissions on the part of any Phillipian editor. We are certainly proud of the accomplishments of our fellow students, but at a school like Phillips Academy, we do not have the space each week to cover every student achievement, and I fully stand by our news coverage decisions. Mistakes in the article about Philomathean Society last week have been recognized below the editorial. Unfortunately, we do make mistakes when reporting, and I am sincerely sorry for these errors. -Tim Ghosh
