Enhanced or delayed search of the crème de la crème

JOHN ROI BLAS

The National Schools Press Conference (NSPC) announced that they would be only taking the 1st place from the press conferences of each region in the individual and group categories to compete in the national press conference this year instead of taking the top 3 finishers.

This change has caused debate within campus and EROD journalists on whether the change is beneficial or detrimental to determining the “most capable” competitors in the country

One argument is that this would help in filtering out those who truly are deserving and capable enough to step up to the national stage. This change would help in choosing only the “best” to represent their respective regions and would also help relieve congestion of competitors during the press con.

On the other hand, the difference between the 1st and 2nd or 3rd place may be very miniscule. Just because someone failed to secure 1st place it doesn’t mean that they are less capable than the “winner”, having the top 3 is a safer bet to find the “top journalist”.

Having 3 representatives per region would also show more options to the judges. This is because having the top 1 of each region would not guarantee that they would perform the best out of the top achievers of their area.

Retaining the old system of taking the 3 best performing journalists of each region would help find the bona fide 1st place the National School Press Conference seeks to find.

This decision should give honor to the friendly competition taking place between confrères and to give rightful credit to those who worked hard and are good enough to reach the national level.

LETTER TO EDITOR EDITOR’S REPLY

Dear Editor,

I am John Michael, a student of E. Rodriguez Jr. High School. I am writing to you in order to raise awareness over the increasing instances of vandalism.

The insensitive use of a pen causes the improper use and disturbances vandalism brings in our school, the most annoying thing is that they use the permanent marker to draw in the walls which is rather impossible to erase.

It is a high time to increase the overall security and awareness of our school and do something to regulate and punish those who do the act of vandalizing, I formally request any possible solutions to lessen vandalism.

Dear John Michael,

Thank you for sharing the problems you have noticed inside E. Rodriguez Jr. High School. We now acknowledge the issues of vandalism within the school’s campus and the concern it brings.

Vandalism causes a disorderly look of the school buildings, which reflects the lack of discipline of some students to other learners, school staff, and outsiders which could damage the school’s reputation. This also massively troubles the janitors’ and causes more expenses to repair the stained walls.

We appreciate and agree your suggestion that actions should be taken regarding the increasing occasions of vandalism. We will consider launching programs to educate and spread awareness about the issue. Proper punishment and disciplinary actions will also be placed to those who are proven and caught partaking in these