Flap over "R" word flares anew at Bucks school

The battle between student editors and administrators at Neshaminy High School over banning the word Redskin from the school newspaper was thrust back into the national spotlight this week, after editors claimed to have seen the principal confiscating copies of their latest issue.

Gillian McGoldrick, the Playwickian editor-in-chief, said the administration would not permit publication of the issue because editors had removed Redskin from an op-ed column and replaced it with R------. To meet the print deadline, McGoldrick said, the editors pulled the column and replaced it with a note explaining the decision.

McGoldrick said that editors saw principal Rob McGee and at least one other staff member removing copies of the newspaper from distribution points in the school.

Superintendent Robert Copeland said at a board meeting Tuesday night that McGee had confiscated about 40 newspapers, a move Copeland called prudent since the students published the edition without approval.

The editors were allowed to distribute newspapers at Neshaminy's graduation ceremony on Saturday, McGoldrick said.

ESPN commentator Keith Olbermann, who has described McGee as "The World's Worst Person in Sports" for trying to overturn the student editors' ban, reported on the latest incident Monday.

- Chris Palmer