Heads, it's The Breeze Tails, it's Campus Cat

James Madison University's student newspaper is called The Breeze but it might have been The Maniac, Valley Dictorian or Belles of the Blue Stone. In fact, a contest to name the newly established school paper in 1922 came down to a coin toss between Campus Cat and The Breeze. Cooler heads dictated the latter, which has survived for 79 years, holding off a massive student vote in 1942 to change the name to The Madisonian or Mad Cap. A faculty veto preserved tradition and the original name.

An English class generated the first school paper in 1921 with a monthly called Go-get-'er. Circulation was one -- a single copy typed and placed in the library for general use. But its immediate popularity impelled plans for a "real" school newspaper. Pep rallies next semester drew the support of students and the faculty. Three hundred signed up for subscriptions -- from a student body of 983.

By today's standards, that early four-page, bi-monthly would attract few readers. Even as a weekly during the '20s and '30s, "news" focused on speakers on campus, social announcements and canned humor. First editor Roselyn Brownley took "Campus Cat" as the heading for her humor column, a popular feature that continued for the next 16 years. High wit was not a hallmark, however, but using professors' names was. For example, the following poked fun at the school's first full-time professor of geography, Raus Hanson, in a Feb. 29, 1930, issue:

Mr. Hanson: Do you notice that every time I nod my head the Baby laughs?

Mrs. Hanson: Certainly. She likes to hear the rattle.

The same paper's front page headlined "H.T.C. Welcomes New Girls" with a list of the eight new girls enrolled for the spring semester. And more than half a page simply cited "Guests on Campus" as "Wallace Lamb came to see Pearl Nash" and "Week-End Trips" like "Marie Pence went home to Port Republic."

Also 70 years ago, annual celebrations included "class days" with festive costumes and programs along with a special issue of The Breeze for each class' day "edited by members of the class and printed in class colors," according to professor Raymond Dingledine's history of the school. Seniors, of course, had purple; green and red designated sophomore and freshman papers, and juniors tried yellow but found it too hard to read. They settled for black and white with a large gold "J" on the front page.

Through those early years, paper size varied. Photos first appeared in a 1932 issue, but ran rarely until 1937. From then on, they enlivened each issue. Since the early 1990s, photos have been in black and white and in color. And today's Breeze, honored for the second consecutive year by the Society of Professional Journalists as the top non-daily student newspaper in the country, prints 9,500 copies every Monday and Thursday.

Managing Editor Amanda Capp says, "Our ultimate goal is to put out a well-rounded paper that informs students about what's going on across campus and around the community. And along the way, we try to entertain."

Co-advisor Albert "Flip" DeLuca, who shares duties with Alan Neckowitz, comments on how students take their work more seriously today than when he started advising in 1980. "The staff is a lot bigger and more professional. All decision making rests with the students. We give advice, but all the decisions are theirs. The learning situation becomes more realistic."

Certainly today's Breeze journalistic style is professional. Many of the staff members intern on daily papers during the summer and major in journalism. Capp spent her summer at The News Leader, a daily based in Staunton.

And while the quality and sophistication of the paper keeps pace with campus growth and change, the publication or its offshoots can evoke controversy. In 1970, an underground paper named The Fixer fueled fires of rebellion. The Breeze covered it all. In 2001, coverage continues to expose the good and the bad on campus. The latest controversy arose over the sexual content of an insert, Turf. Next year, who knows?

Perhaps a good newspaper reflects former Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren's view of life. He once said, "Everything that I did in my life that was worthwhile I caught hell for."

By Nancy Bondurant Jones