Nelson says she now edits the "Gang of Nine"--the name of the paper's professor-rankling humor section--more carefully than it has ever been. "Things border on being funny and mean. And [professors are] sensitive, it can make certain people, certain professors angry," Nelson says. "So if I see something that is offensive I don't hesitate to do something about it, to err on the side of caution."

Two years ago, the Harbus began putting bylines on the humor columns in an effort to increase writers' accountability.

Nonetheless, Nelson says faculty "usually don't find the humor section very funny."

"They have a history of some troubles with the faculty," says another professor, also speaking on condition of anonymity. "Their sense of humor isn't all that funny."

Some have vowed never to read the humor section, which regularly critiques professors' performances.

"They love it when we print the humor columns in a separate second section because then they can just throw it away," Nelson says.

The humor column may never be popular, but Nelson says inveterate attitudes, while hard to charge, are slowly warming toward the publication. She says there has been a concerted effort among editors to improve the paper's relations with the school's administration.

"In previous years the relationship was not very good," says Nelson, who took over as editor last January. "We've had much better communications and a lot of the editors have tried to be more responsible."

She says the improved relationship is the result of an increased sense of editorial responsibility.

"In the past we printed articles without getting all the facts or all the opinions from administrators. And a lot of time when they saw a story in the paper on Monday they felt unprepared, broadsided," she says. "Now we alert them and make sure to get a response. I think that in return they have been very helpful in giving us information."

For example, McArthur has regular breakfasts with Harbus editors. Reporters from the paper also meet every two weeks with media-friendly Robison Professor of Business Administration James I. Cash, the director of the MBA program.

"If you ask anyone, Harbus had a difficult time with the administration before we came on board," says Harbus publisher Tarek Khlat, referring to his group of editors. "There were some very one-sided articles that were printed as fact. There were some stories that got some people really angry."

"But we have established new lines of communication with the administration," Khlat says, "Our new dialogue with the administration doesn't affect what we print, we're just able to make sure that our stories are sourced correctly and are accurate."

In January of last year, Nelson sent around surveys to Business School faculty asking them for their impressions of the paper and how it could be improved.

"Those kinds of efforts to establish better communication have really made the relationship less antagonistic and have lessoned the pressure on both sides," Nelson says. "There's a group of faculty who have the Harbus and it could be because of something that happened 10 years ago, but there is also a group of faculty who support us."