About Tech News

The Magnetics Laboratory

Formed in 1909, the WPI Newspeak Association (formerly the Technews Association) is the second-oldest recognized student group on campus, excluding fraternities. The group is comprised entirely of students who volunteer their time each week to tend to the daily operations of publishing the WPI student newspaper.

Approximately 1/3 of the association's annual operating and publication budget comes from the WPI Student Activities Fee, while the remaining 2/3 is generated by the staff through advertising revenues.

The first newspaper office was in the Magnetics Laboratory (now Skull Tomb). Throughout the years, the paper has been published from various locations around campus, such as the Green Room in Alden Hall. Our current business offices and newsroom are located in the Basement of Sanford Riley Hall, just to the left of Gompei's and Riley Commons. In January of 2001, the association will move to its new office on the second floor of the Campus Center.

The paper was first published on September 15, 1909 under the name "Tech News" and continues to appear weekly on Tuesdays during the academic year. An Excerpt from "Seventy Years of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute" (227) describes the organization's beginnings as:

One of the most stimulating innovations of this period was the Tech News. A group of 1911 men originated the idea, and submitted it to the Board of Trustees in the spring of 1909. Publication began the following September, most of the staff being members of the class of 1911, with Stanley P. Stewart as editor-in-chief. This weekly paper was well edited from the start, and became popular immediately. The following year, the Tech News staff was given permission to use the magnetic laboratory as its headquarters. The paper suspended publication for a brief period in 1912, but resumed in the fall and continued without a break thereafter, except during the war period in 1918.

On February 27, 1973, the name of the publication was changed to "WPI Newspeak", in an effort to produce a more student-centered paper that was a voice for the campus.

In 1998, the paper (still called "Newspeak") joined U-Wire, a free collegiate wire service in order to provide its readers with relevant news from other colleges and universities. Additionally, the paper began printing articles from the L.A. Times / Washington Post News Service. This was replaced in 1999 by the Associated Press, provided by Newsfinder. Newspeak's first Full-Color edition was also published that year as a supplement about the construction of the WPI Campus Center.

In April of 2000, the Association published its annual "April Fools Edition", which has long been known as a humorous prank played on the campus community. The spoof involved a hoax in which a secret society known as "Scapulus" took-over the newspaper and moved it back to its original headquarters in the magnetics laboratory, where they began to publish under the original name of Tech News. After the issue arrived, the staff liked the look of the traditional name and began exploring the idea of changing it back permanently. Their original thoughts were to bring back a piece of lost WPI history.

In July of 2000, after much constructive commentary and debate between students, faculty, and the Newspeak Association staff, it was determined that the newspaper would indeed return to its former name. The first paper was published on August 26, 2000, beginning with Volume 65, Issue #1 -- the exact sequence where the original "Tech News" left off. The group continues to call themselves "The Newspeak Association" as a tribute to the paper that served the campus so well for nearly thirty years.

Today, the Newspeak Association publishes approximately 25 issues of "Tech News" per year, including a special New Student Edition in late August. The paper range from 12 to 26 pages with red spot color on the front and middle pages. Occasionally, full-color process is used for special editions. The paper is prepared using high-powered IBM-compatible computers & scanners, Nikon & Sony digital and analog Camera equipment, and the association's own darkroom facility. Hard-copy paste-ups are sent in electronic format to Saltus Press in Worcester for printing.

The Newspeak Association maintains hard-copy archives of all issues dating back to 1973, as well as electronic versions in HTML and Adobe® PDF format dating back to 1994. The WPI Gordon Library maintains archives of The Tech News and Newspeak back to 1909 in both hard-copy and microfilm. Persons interested in archival research should contact the Library directly.

The Newspeak Association maintiains an editorial board of 12 members, elected annually by the general membership. Students contributing more than two (2) stories per academic term (7-weeks) are be considered "active" and may be added to the printed staff box. If a member becomes inactive, he or she will be removed from the staff box until he or she is in good standing again.

The Association also maintains an open-door policy, welcoming both new members and non-member submissions. If you're interested in writing, photography, graphics layout, advertising, or business, give us a ring and we'll be more than happy to find something for you to do. It's a big job to run a newspaper and it takes a lot of great people with diverse talents!