U.C. newspaper goes daily once more p. 39

By: George Garneau THE DAILY CALIFORNIAN, the University of California's independent student daily, plans to resume daily frequency Aug. 23 after a two-year hiatus as a non-daily.
Facing high costs and a recession in September 1993, the weekday daily cut back to three days a week and cut back again to twice weekly several weeks later.
The off-campus paper brought in new management, cut nearly every department, signed a new contract with its production staff and last summer returned to cheaper offices on campus.
"We're still independent, but our presence on campus helps us immensely," said general manager John Bowman.
The paper's contract with its unionized, 11-person production staff allows student interns to assist in production for the first time in nearly 20 years.
Two months after the administration tried to fire three editors, the Daily Californian became independent in 1971 after it ran an editorial urging the "retaking" of People's Park.
Editor in chief Bita Rahebi said decisions made after independence ? plus the "extravagant" 1987 purchase of a building on Dwight Way ? contributed to the financial difficulties two years ago. Rahebi said the newspaper returned its off-campus building to the previous owner.
While revenues have not increased dramatically since the cutbacks, costs for production and office space have, she said, adding that higher newsprint prices were taken into consideration before returning to daily frequency.
The paper gets no subsidies from the university but gets some foundation support. Besides the production staff, the paper also supports eight professional managers, she said.
"At twice a week, people haven't looked to us for the news. We've become almost a secondary source of information because things are so old by the time we got to print," managing editor Mike Coleman said in a statement. "But as a daily, we'll be much more capable of staying on top of everything."