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68 years of student newspapers at LPO-IVCC: an overview
1933-1935: Hi-Co Scanner Founder of Hi-Co Scanner earns national acclaim
1946-1952: Keyhole: A Peek at the News
1963-1967: The Apache Smoke Signal
68 years of student newspapers at LPO-IVCC
Nine years after LaSalle-Peru-Oglesby Junior College was founded, the first student newspaper was established. The HI -CO SCANNER, which was published from 1933-1935, was the first of a series of newspapers, some published by the junior college alone and some in cooperation with LaSalle-Peru High School, since L-P-O was located in the high school building until 1968.
Those early newspapers typically survived two or three years, and after a two or three year hiatus, another newspaper would spring up. Reasons for the short lives of those publications are not clear, but lack of steady financing is a likely explanation since they relied on advertising and subscription sales.
The last paper founded at L-P-O is the sole exception to this pattern of short-term start-ups.
In the mid-1960s, a paper called the Apache Smoke Signal began publication at the junior college, funded through student fees administered by the student government.
Areas citizens approved the formation of Illinois Valley Community College as the Smoke Signal began its fourth year. A year later, the staff shortened the newspaper’s name to the Apache.
While the Apache is again in the process of a name change, this student newspaper is in its 39th year of continuous publication. The logo on page one reads 36th year because the issues were renumbered when L-P-O became IVCC.
1933-1935: Scanner starts tradition
In 1933 the first student newspaper was published as a joint effort by LaSalle-Peru-Oglesby Junior College and LaSalle-Peru High School.
The newspaper was called the HI-CO SCANNER, for high school and college. At that time the junior college, IVCCs predecessor, was still located in the L-P High School building.
That newspaper established a tradition of excellence by winning a First Place rating from the National Scholastic Press Association for issues published during its first semester. In 1935 the Scanner won a Second Place in the Illinois College Press Association contest.
Founder of Hi-Co Scanner earns national acclaim
More about Elizabeth Parks White
Elizabeth Parks White, founder of the first L-P-O Junior College newspaper in 1933, was a founder and first national president of Quill and Scroll, the honorary organization for high school journalists.
1938-1941: J.C. students publish first paper alone
The L-P-O Echo was the first newspaper produced by the junior college alone. The Echo was published from 1938 to 1941, while the college was still located in the L-P High School facilities.In 1938, the Echo staff was campaigning for football to be reinstated at the junior college. Howard Fellows, athletic director for whom the L-P stadium is named, was quoted in a story saying that a football player “can be equippped for a season for as little as $19.”
1941-1942: Courier reports first mascot
The Hi-Co Courier, published in 1941-42, was another joint high school-junior college effort.
The Courier reported a contest for a name for junior college teams in the spring of 1942. According to a later story, Spartans was the winner. The Spartan name was apparently never used by the junior college.
1946-1952: Students peek at the news
World War II ends, GIs enter college, courtesy of the GI Bill, and college enrollment mushrooms.
In 1946, L-P-O J.C. and L-P H.S. students cooperate to publish their last joint newspaper, The Keyhole, subtitled A Peek at the News.
In 1946, 275 students were enrolled at the junior college. In 1949, the Keyhole celebrated L-P-Os 25th anniversary.
Bigger news was that L-P-O had been the Northern Illinois Junior College football champion for three years, and baseball was being added to athletics.
In spring of 1947, the Keyhole reported the contest for a college mascot and selection of the Apache. The Keyhole was published until 1952.
1963-1967: Apache emerges as Apache Smoke Signal
In the mid-1960s, students at L-P-O began publishing another newspaper, this time adopting the junior college team mascot. The paper was called the Apache Smoke Signal.
The only surviving copies of that newspaper are from the spring of 1966, but based on volume numbers, that newspaper was first published in fall 1963.
By fall 1966, the Smoke Signal was being published by students attending the newly approved Illinois Valley Community College.
Name shortened to the Apache in 1967
In 1967, the IVCC student newspaper name was shortened to the Apache, in response to student complaints that Smoke Signal sounded too much like a high school publication.
A contest is currently underway to select a new name for the paper as the college searches for a new mascot.
Tradition of excellence continues
The Apache has continued the tradition of excellence established by the Hi-Co Scanner 68 years ago.
For the past 16 years, the Apache has placed either first or second in the Illinois Community College Journalism Association judging.
Additional awards have included an All American rating from the Associated Collegiate Press, Gold Circle Awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, and a Finalist in Rolling Stone Magazine Collegiate Journalist Contest.