The birth of the Scholastic Gazette in 1965 signalled the dawn of campus journalism in LCHS. But the project was not pursued by succeeding batches. It left a vacuum after it closed shop with the graduation of the staff members belonging to Batch '65.

Second School Organ.  The year 1968 saw the emergence of the second LCHS student publication, the Campus Keeper. It was published by an association of senior and junior students called the Campus Keeper Organization (CKO). The maiden issue of the Campus Keeper came off the press on Jan. 15, 1968. Like the Gazette, the Campus Keeper was printed by mimeograph and started out with a lean staff. But its staff was more organized, its objectives more focused, and its contents more diverse.

Running the Campus Keeper were Henry L. Yu (Batch '69) and Emelita Lee (Batch '68), as co-editors; Delia Dy, Roderick Ngo, and Antonio Leo Te, as columnists; and Vy Beng Hong, as staff artist. Complementing the writing staff were the CKO officers, namely Castor Lim, Elizabeth Lim, Janet Lee, Gloria Tecson, Alex Handumon, and Betty Bernardo.

Published monthly, the Campus Keeper was a merry mix of newsy tidbits and literary works of the students. Dominant in its content were campus trivia, essays and poems. There were also quizzes, humor section, profiles, and interviews. It also ran a Pilipino section called "Dahong Pilipino".

Outspoken Staff.  Like its predecessor, Campus Keeper opened doors to a new wave of budding writers such as Rodolfo Yu, Henry Yu, Janet Lee, Delia Dy, Alex Handumon, and Gloria Tecson. The articles were generally concerned with school programs and student activities. But on its second issue, February 1968, the paper became more vocal in its perceptions of the state of school facilities. Emilita Lee, in her column "Progress Notes" began to tackle more sensitive issues such as the lack of laboratory equipment and the scant supply of reference books and pamphlets in the library.  Castor Lim, president of the CKO, in his "Points to Ponder" column, sounded his alarm on the rise of vandalism within the school.

As it progressed, the paper became even more outspoken. It came out with a terse editorial in the March 1968 issue entitled "Be Fair to Everybody" that was critical of the perceived priorities given by the administration on Chinese classes over English classes. Another section called "Letters" exhorted students to air their views on a range of campus issues, such as the state of disrepair of the classrooms.

The Final Straw.  Eventually the final straw that broke the camel's back came from the incisive pen of Henry Yu. He lashed out at the lack of books in the library and its lack of a fulltime librarian, and its inconvenient location. "Who wants to go to the library when it's as high as the Tower of Paris?" he wrote in an article entitled "Let's Face the Truth." Another issue of significance that was raised in the article was the lab facilities. Citing the installation of airconditioners in the faculty room, he wrote, "Instead of spending for books, lab equipment, specimens, etc., it is utilized for the benefit of those things that are not so necessary."

For the first time in years, the Campus Keeper had crystallized nagging issues confronting the school, and the students had found in the Campus Keeper a mouthpiece that dealt with issues they could personally relate to.  Yet by doing so, the Campus Keeper also found itself stirring a hornet's nest.  School officials, long accustomed to a benign and complacent studentry, were outraged.  Consequently, Henry Yu was summoned to the principal's office and given a severe tongue lashing, which eventually led to his voluntary banishment to another school. Thus ended another chapter of the student press in LCHS.  (Reprinted from the Spectrum, Mar. 8, 1999 issue.)