When interviewed last week, Hopke deniedFrisbie's allegations that The Salient is introuble and called Frisbie, "a disgruntled formeremployee who was fired."

But a recent e-mail sent to Salient staffmembers seemed to belie Hopke's statements.

The e-mail message informed staffers that thepaper is "currently in a state of emergency."

The message, labeled "URGENT!!!," stated thatthe publication needed "AT LEAST $500" inadvertisements to print its next issue.

In a phone interview yesterday, DeCaro allegedthat Peninsula has more then enough money to buyThe Salient.

"We have reserve funds that have come fromexcess donations, and we're expecting some largedonations soon," DeCaro said. "We're going to bearound a long time."

"We have the funds to purchase The Salient. Wehave the desire to do so," Malone said. "We thinkit would be good for both publications."

Hopke's rejection letter cited Peninsula'sinconsistent publishing schedule as one of thereasons The Salient would not consider the offer.

"A generally accepted belief on our staff isthat a successful publication must faithfullyadhere to its publication schedule," Hopke said."Given the history of Peninsula's publishingschedule we don't believe that our standards wouldbe maintained."

McGuire said that he believes that Peninsula'sirregularity was an advantage for the publication,however.

"We think there's some virtue to beingunpredictable," McGuire said