We Were Busy Breaking Into The Pepsi Machine

As editor of the Phillipian, the student weekly at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, I was responsible for editing reporters' copy for accuracy and clarity. The young people now running the paper have put all the old issues on line, enabling me to review my handiwork. On Jan. 11, 1973, we ran an article about President Nixon's appointment of George H. W. Bush as chairman of the Republican National Committee. The reporter wrote, and I let by, this egregious howler:

The former head of the United States delegation to the United States will replace Senator Robert J. Dole...

UN, U.S., whatever. We concluded:

Mr. Bush has two sons: Jeb, who graduated from PA in 1971, and Marvin, who is presently enrolled as a junior here.

Two out of three ain't bad.