Poor Editing Undermines Crimson

The Harvard Crimson represents something special on the Harvard campus. The only daily newspaper on campus, it takes on the responsibility of covering many issues and events that other publications simply cannot report given their staff sizes and issue time frames. Recently, however, there has been a conspicuous lack of fundamental copy editing skills, exhibited most prominently on the front page.

The Crimson celebrated the opening of Annenberg Hall by running a photo of a statue overlooking "first-year dingers." Soon following that was a front-page caption mysteriously interrupted by a long series of "<=" symbols. A few days ago, on the 20th, a headline mentioned a "worksho" taking place here on campus. The next day's Crimson finally spurred me to write. It read: Thursday, February 21, 1996. Wait--February 21st was a Wednesday! And wasn't Harrison Ford's Star Wars character (who is mentioned three times on the front page) named Han Solo, not Hans Solo?

My point here is not to ridicule any particular staff member or members. I realize that under time constraints and staffing necessities, errors are bound to occur. Use of an old template, for instance, may explain the wrong day/date combination. My concern is that with such laxity in pure copy editing skill, the Crimson stands to lose some of the credibility that I, as a reader, usually give it credit for.

Please be more careful, for your own sakes. If not, I will volunteer to act as an occasional copy editor and would encourage the staff to include this position separate from any administrative editorial position for every issue. Do not let carelessness betray your efforts. --Nick Szumski '97