From the September 20, 2002 issue of the Argus:
Bogus Paper was started in the fall of 1978 when the Wesleyan student body was going through major social changes. An increasingly open-minded and liberal student population began to desire a more dynamic and creative forum. The Argus’ conservative format and adherence to newspaper conventions were not adequate. A number of students were convinced that the Argus’ bi-weekly deadlines watered down the paper’s content while rarely addressing the concerns and ideas of students in a substantive manner. Two studio art majors worked to create a new kind of magazine, one that they hoped would more adequately address these issues. After several failed attempts, the two students finally succeeded in publishing the first edition of Bogus Paper in November 1978. The name “Bogus Paper” was an expression that their drawing professor had often used to describe the newsprint they worked with in class. When they stole the paper to print the first edition, they thought the name would be appropriate.
Bogus Paper was founded on the notion that students at Wesleyan were basically real people. A student who makes art is an artist. A student who writes poetry is a poet. The point was that a lot of people on campus were doing really interesting things, but the Argus was typically covering them from a strange position; it looked past the work to celebrate the personality of the student making it. The two founders sought innovative ways of showing the talents of these students to the rest of the community. The first edition contained a photo essay documenting the creation of an intricate sculpture, the ten most outstanding room decorations on campus, and among other features, the ten best joint rollers at Wesleyan and their techniques.
By the end of 1978, Bogus Paper was being circulated widely around campus. The administration found the blatant drug references and similar shenanigans to be an embarrassment but did not address the issue. This brief period would mark the publication’s only financial support from the school. After one of the founders graduated, the other founder took the paper and held a contest that would change the nature and history of the magazine. As sole editor, he pushed a personal agenda that changed Bogus Paper into Wesleyan’s first and only adult themed magazine. The October 1978 issue of Bogus Paper advertised the “nicest breasts on campus” competition. Over seventy pictures came in, and the winner, an anonymous sophomore, was awarded thirty dollars. The editor argued convincingly that Bogus Paper had always treated Wesleyan students to adult themed content, and that the edition of what many called smut, was merely an extension. Never the less, campus outrage over the contest was enormous. The school rescinded funding for the magazine and threatened to expel the editor and his small staff. Instead of heeding the Dean’s threat, he changed the name of the publication to Save Bogus Paper and moved it entirely underground.
For the remainder of the year, the editor used his own money to discretely publish the magazine and distribute it while quietly holding increasingly outlandish competitions, stunts, parties and concerts under the administration’s nose. At the end of the spring semester of 1980, he wisely turned the magazine over to the son of a wealthy New York attorney who was also an art major. This student, whose name is unknown, ran the magazine anonymously for three years, never being identified by the administration that threatened to expel anyone connected to Save the Bogus Paper. When he graduated in 1983, Save Bogus Paper’s lone benefactor quietly endowed the magazine with around ten thousand dollars and handed the reins over to another anonymous underclassman.
For the last twenty years Save Bogus Paper has been published consistently: usually twice a semester, with a circulation of about two hundred issues an edition. Unfortunately, bad money management and investment losses have left the magazine with almost no money, and with the semester beginning, it is unclear if the magazine will continue to exist without the help of the WSA and students who have enjoyed it.
As 2003 approaches, Save Bogus Paper nears its twenty-fifth anniversary. I have been asked by the founders to bring the magazine back into the fray as an above ground, audible voice in campus society. This letter is the first public communication from Save Bogus Paper in over twenty years, and my hope is that our campus is prepared to accept and cherish the magazine as it did before we were born. As the Editor of Save Bogus Paper, I ask for your support in the upcoming weeks to help save a campus treasure. The staff will be selling T-shirts, stickers and hats to raise money to help keep Save Bogus Paper alive.
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