LOGAN — A lot has changed in a century at Utah State University, but the student newspaper remains the voice of students on campus.
The Agricultural College of Utah was founded in Logan in 1888. By 1902, the campus spanned 111 acres with 47 faculty members.
In November 1902, Student Life, as the paper was first called, proudly proclaimed: "There are 10 members in the senior class this year."
There are 22,000 students at USU now, 4,731 of them seniors. The campus sprawls over more than 500 acres with a faculty of 790.
According to Student Life, the most popular courses of study were blacksmithing and carpentry for men, sewing for women.
A full-page advertisement placed by the college the first year announced "no tuition," just a $5 fee for registration. Today, student fees are $255 each semester, and tuition is close to $1,200.
"We used to sit around and wait for the teletype to fire up," said Jay Wamsley, faculty adviser to the Utah Statesman, as the paper is now called, since 1982. "(The Statesman) still has impact. It still has value in the day-to-day life of students."
Students produced the paper a century ago using movable type, just like Benjamin Franklin. Today the paper is produced entirely on computers. Stories from the Associated Press arrive via satellite, downloading instantly.
The Statesman has followed the university and the nation through many transitions. In 1902 the paper gave students an account of the Spanish-American War. Theodore Roosevelt was president in 1902. He assumed the presidency after William McKinley was assassinated.
The first issue of Student Life was published before the Wright brothers made their first flight.
The newspaper is the oldest continually published student paper in Utah, according to "Pictures Past," a centennial history of USU.
A story the first year announced a public debate between the law clubs of the Logan school and Brigham Young College. The debate focused on slavery, just 27 years after the Civil War. More than 1,200 students arrived to hear the arguments at BYC, stated the paper, a capacity crowd for its auditorium. After meeting for the debate, Student Life writers suggested the two schools should meet for a football competition, but Brigham Young didn't have a football team yet.
Advertising in the first issue listed a number of businesses, including The Eagle Cafe and First National Bank of Logan. At least one business survives, the semi-weekly Salt Lake Tribune.
The first ad in Student Life was for "The Co-op Grocery & Drug Co." Long before Smith's and Albertsons, the co-op claimed to be the "leading grocers and druggists of Logan."
Student Life was published monthly and priced at 10 cents a copy. Today's Utah Statesman is published three times a week and circulated free of charge.
In 1926, the Agricultural College of Utah became Utah State Agricultural College. Then in 1957, USAC became Utah State University. By 1978, Student Life also needed a change, becoming the Utah Statesman.
But some things haven't changed.
"We lament the fact that the first issue of the 'Student Life' was late in making its appearance," stated an editorial from the second issue, December 1902. "We expect to have every subsequent issue of the Student Life appear on time." They were having problems with the local printing press.
A century later, the issue of the Utah Statesman arrived late on campus. There were problems with the printing press.
E-mail: loganreporter@attbi.com