Justin G. Fong’s endpaper (Magazine, “The Invasian,” March 15) has caused quite a stir. Though I happened to find it amusing, I understand why others would not; it treated a sensitive subject indelicately. Hopefully the uproar it provoked will prove constructive for the Harvard community. My problem is not with this uproar. Fong had a right to discuss chosen issues and others have the right to disagree with his opinion on them. But if Fong had a right to voice his opinion in print, as the First Amendment states and as I believe, why was the organization that allowed his piece to be printed so quick to withdraw its support? I find the statements of March 19 (Opinion, “On ‘The Invasian’”) and March 20 (“To Our Readers”) disappointing because they imply an unwillingness to take responsibility for the end result of the editorial process. If the Fifteen Minutes editors allowed “The Invasion” to be printed, I especially wonder why it should be C. Matthew MacInnis ’02, The Crimson’s president, who would slip in a second official apology.

MacInnis should be ashamed that he did not stick up for his fellow editors in the face of protest. Opinion pieces are frequently inflammatory, and a journalist should accept these risks without hoping to please everyone.

If Fong’s article “did not adhere to the standards” of The Crimson, then it never should have been printed. But since it was, the editors of The Crimson should support it.

Susana E. Canseco ’01

March 21, 2001

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