how do i get selection?

ok...i have this code:

<option value=\"03\">March</option>

the name of my form is "NEWS." the name of my combo box is "MONTH." when i set the variable 'date' equal to document.NEWS.MONTH.value i get "03." this is correct. however, this is not what i want. what i want to be placed in that variable is the name of the month. i have tried things like document.NEWS.MONTH.text, document.NEWS.MONTH.selected, etc. what is the correct syntax that will return the selection? thanks in advance. this is a pretty important question so any help would do.

This might seem like a stupid question but exactly what are you using? If you mean a select list try this:
x.options[i].text
Hope that helps.