In the fall of 1969, the University expanded the format of the weekly Gazette to include Harvard-sanctioned press releases. Before Old Mole, the Gazette had been nothing more than a calendar of University and community events.

"We intend the Gazette to serve as a regular factual source of information on the people of the University, its schools and departments, and their accomplishments and activities," reads a note from the first expanded issue of the newspaper, which was published on September 26,1969.

Hightower says the new Gazette was a response to antagonistic press coverage like that found in The Old Mole.

"The University had decided to try to get its point across," he says.

Twenty-five years later, The Gazette's coverage continues to portray the administration in a light less harsh than that of independent publications.

Consider, for example, the Gazette's recent treatment of the news that Provost Jerry R. Green would leave his job and take a new inter-Faculty position.

"Green Out as University's Provost," read a headline over a Crimson article. The Student newspaper later reported on "disarray in Massachusetts Hall" resulting from the provost's departure.

The Gazette, on the other hand, portrayed the events in a more favorable light.

"Provost Green to Take New Post," the Gazette headline said.