By Matt Branson
College Topics Staff Writer

The Cavalier Daily will start the semester in a situation it has not seen since the late '70s - it will be the only newspaper on Grounds.

The University Journal, although officially still in existence, has not published on a regular basis since September 1996, when the Journal ceased publication in order to concentrate on paying off its debt.

The Journal's troubles began in April 1996 when the Student Council Appropriations Committee denied the Journal funding, citing the Journal's excessive debt to its publisher. Council is not allowed to fund organizations that are in debt.

In August 1996, the Journal decided to return to a three-days-a-week schedule but quit three weeks into September. In the spring semester, the Journal put out a tabloid-size weekly issue, but that also lasted only three weeks. Since then, the only issue has been a 1997 April Fool's Day issue.

"Everybody wishes there was a UJ," Cavalier Daily Managing Editor John Flowers said. "People like the competition." Even so, the quality of the Journal is still a target for derision. "I ran out of toilet paper, so I used [the April Fool's issue]," Flowers added.

Last September, the Journal announced it was going to concentrate its efforts on raising $150,000 to pay off its debt and establish an emergency fund. Fund-raising events included a concert at Trax and a raffle. The Journal is rumored to have declared bankruptcy, although Cavalier Daily staffers have been unable to confirm this.

Flowers said the Journal held elections in the spring and did not elect an editor-in-chief. He estimated their staff to be no more than 20 people.

Matt Branson graduated from the University in 1995 and is a former Managing Editor.