Discussing Decorum

As your managing editor, I’m hesitant to wade into the arguments between Virgil Vaupel and several female contributors to the Courier in this week’s edition, if for no other reason than the obvious fact that none of the writers involved need the assistance. I will simply say for the record that none of the sentiments on today’s page are coordinated. I make it a policy to keep submitted columns and letters private until publication when sensitive, even among staff, and did not specifically request any special contributions to the discussion. I’d like to add that spirited as the debate has become, VV was remembered to me on two separate occasions over the Thanksgiving holiday, in both instances by some of the aforementioned contributors. The point: As heated as some of the language can be in conversations like these, our writers are approaching their subject matter with a certain amount of love. On a related note, those in the know have expressed a suspicion that VV foil Horace Sence is a pen name for Yours Truly. Not so! I held Horace’s first column for months until the actual author revealed his (yes, his) true identity to me in confidence.