The Cavalier Daily started out this semester full of promise and excitement. The newspaper underwent a dramatic redesign that, among other things, brought full color to the news and sports pages everyday. The new professional feel, in turn, helped attract about 50 new recruits and inspire our existing 175 veterans. Coverage of ongoing stories was strong and a new digital layout submission system with our printer improved roll times. Like most years, the start of the fall semester ushered bustling and cheery spirits into the Cavalier Daily office.

And then came Sept. 11.

The Cavalier Daily’s Sept. 12 edition undoubtedly will stand as one of its most notable issues. It included a vivid front page that well marked the historical importance of the attack. Coverage of events in New York City and Washington, D.C., was balanced with updates on the local life at the University. Editorials appealed to calm, reason and tolerance. The issue came as the result of extraordinary commitment and teamwork from all members of the CD staff—even as many of them tried to contact friends and family and cope with the day’s significance themselves.

In the following days, the staff’s writing, photography, design and editorial judgment didn’t let up. We sent reporters to witness the conditions in Washington and New York and to relay what they saw to 20,000 readers in Charlottesville. Those who stayed on Grounds reported on safety concerns in Charlottesville, military developments that affected students, the condition of University alumni, and the well-being of Arab, Muslim and Middle-Eastern students.

After weeks of coverage on the attacks, military bombings and now anthrax scares, the newspaper has received widespread praise. Supportive comments from University vice presidents, members of cultural groups, students and professors, and even secret societies have helped our exhausted staff remember that what we do really is important to a community outside of our basement office.

Now, nearly two months after the September tragedy, we’ve settled back into a normal routine. We’ve also had a chance to think about how much The Cavalier Daily has changed since we took office. There have been a host of little changes and improvements, as well as other very significant projects. Here are a few:

"Going digital." After negotiating a new printing contract with the Culpeper Star-Exponent, converting our ads library to image files, and learning the ins and outs of Adobe Acrobat, our production methods are now "digital." (See Digital.) Our next step is to make the photo department digital by purchasing professional-quality digital cameras. In the long term, we would save money and time, but the up-front cost is high.

Overhauling our design. As part of our new contract, the CD agreed to go a 50-inch web size, making us a more narrow newspaper. This helped Culpeper deal with the rising cost of newsprint, but it also required us to redesign the paper. So redesign we did. The Cavalier Daily changed everything from the masthead down to the fonts and lines on every page. The new layouts emphasize centerpiece stories and dominant photos but also provide for more brief stories. We added a new page of weather, stock market and events information. We brought in elements like columnist pics and writer e-mail addresses to help readers feel more connected to their newspaper.

Revamping ATLAS. Our story management software, developed in-house, has been made more robust. The code is more flexible, allowing future Cavalier Daily staffs to rename sections or reorder their production process. The code is so clean it is conceivable that ATLAS 2.0 could someday be marketed to other college newspapers. As an added bonus, ATLAS now keeps track of how long each story sits at each editor’s desk, allowing the managing editor to pin down exactly which naughty staffers are holding up deadlines.

Developing a reporter’s handbook. Education efforts are a perennial problem each fall. This year we’re reducing learning curves around the office by distributing a new "how-to" guide on writing for the CD. The 30-page first edition walks new reporters through the basics like taking good notes and crafting a lead, while also introducing them to stickier issues like conflicts of interest and fairness in reporting.

Reaching out to the community. As part of our mission of serving the community outside of the University, we’ve started an outreach program this semester. It takes us to local high school newspapers to talk about the challenges that we have as college journalists and what we’ve learned from our experiences. So far, we’ve been to Charlottesville High School and Western Albemarle High School. The response from students has been positive and, in one case, overwhelming. One CHS newspaper editor said: "I don’t think I’ve ever learned more than I did in that last hour."

Reaching out to professionals. For the 7th Annual CD Journalism Conference, we lined up an impressive cast of speakers, which included journalists from the Washington Post, Boston Globe, Miami Herald and Dallas Morning News. We registered over 150 participants, including about 50 outside of the University. Everything was set up, until terrorists attacked on Sept. 11 and most of the journalists thought it would be impossible to attend the Sept. 15 event.

Nonetheless, we’re plowing on with educational efforts. This month we’re hosting the Poynter Institute’s Aly Colon, who will address newspaper ethics and news gathering techniques. We’re also organizing a seminar on how to get newspaper internships and a career day for newspaper recruiters later in the semester.

Special Projects Team. One of the downsides to putting out a large paper with broad coverage is that it diffuses the talents and resources of our best reporters across many sections. Special projects aims to reunite the CD’s most passionate reporters, bringing them together to work on semester-long centerpiece stories in a team-reporting atmosphere. The 12-person team will explore the techniques of investigative journalism and hopefully encourage members to think critically about their reporting and news writing skills. The first stories appear this month and their topics range from exploring the role of religion at the University to investigating the practical and legal frustrations of dealing with Charlottesville landlords.