Submission Policies

Tech News welcomes submissions of all types from the campus community. We especially welcome well-written student work about pertinent campus events and our staff will be more than happy to work with anyone who would like to make a submission.

Submissions are categorized according to the following criteria. For information about how to write or prepare these materials, contact a Tech News staff member:

• Paid Display Advertisements – Any material involving text and/or graphics that ask a reader to make a purchase or attend an event. Tech News maintains both off-campus and on-campus advertising rates with significant discounts for student organizations and university departments.
• Public Service Announcements – PSA's are printed at the discretion of the Editors and only when extra space is available. PSA's are announcements intended for "Public Good", such as information on health issues or valuable resources around campus and within the City. Examples: "Don't do drugs", "Only you can prevent forest fires", etc.
• Club Corners – Club corners are brief "blurbs" that may be submitted by any WPI-recognized club or organization each week. A club corner is should be no longer than 225 words and usually contains information about the club's recent or upcoming activities and meetings.
• Announcements (Crimson Clipboard) – Announcements for the Crimson Clipboard are unpaid and thus treated like PSA's. They are text only and should be no longer than 100 words. All Clipboard announcements are printed at the discretion of the editors and may be truncated or omitted due to space limitations.
• What's Happening (Calendar) – What's Happening is Tech News's weekly calendar, printed on the back page. Calendar submissions should include the name of the event, date, time and the weekend email address or phone number of a contact person. Address all calendar submissions to the Features Editor.
• Weekly Column – With the approval of the editors, an individual or group may submit a weekly column. A column is a 500-600 word piece with a consistent, pertinent topic. Columns, unlike news stories and commentary pieces, are designed for discussion. Past examples of columns include the "International House", "College Computer Center" and "Beyond the Margins".
• Press Releases – A press release is often sent by an organization that wishes to promote themselves, an accomplishment or an event that they are sponsoring. Press releases follow a very specific format and are brief and to the point. Very often, press releases are used by news staff to write complete news articles.
• News Articles – A news story is of varying length and objectively tells the basic facts about something that has already happened (Who, what, where, when & why). It follows a strict format known as "reverse-pyramid". Under no circumstances should a news article use the words "I" or "Me", unless direct quoted.
• Feature Articles – A feature article is sometimes called "soft news". It too is objective and follows the reverse-pyramid format. However, it can contain "softer" elements, such as background about a person being profiled, etc. Under no circumstances should a news article use the words "I" or "Me", unless direct quoted.
• Commentary Articles – Commentary articles are a lot like editorials. They are "Opinion based on fact". Usually, the writer is using hard facts to back-up an opinion that he or she has or summarizing a situation that has progressed over several weeks. Use of "I" or "Me" is permitted in this case.
• Letters to the Editor – Letters to the editor, as always, are printed at the discretion of the editor. Letters may be printed anonymously, but a member of the Tech News Editorial Board must have personal knowledge of the source and a signed copy of the letter.
• Reviews (Concert, CD, Theatre, Movie, etc.) – To review an event or, please contact our Features editor well in advance of attending the event. CD's and books, as well as free theatre tickets are often made available to our staff members for reviewing purposes. Contact us for details.
• Photographs & Graphics – Photographs & Graphics may be submitted to our Photo Editors. Materials are printed at the discretion of our Editorial Board.

All copy is due no later than 5pm on the Friday before publication. No late submissions will be accepted unless approved by a member of the editorial board. If an exception is granted, it is that editor's responsibility to make sure the material is typed, edited and ready for print in time for layout.

• Text submissions are accepted by US Mail, Campus Mail, E-Mail, Fax or floppy disk.
• All text should be typewritten and double-spaced or neatly hand-written.
• All submissions should include the requested date of publication (if applicable) and the author's name, phone number and email address.
• When making email or floppy disk submissions, we strongly encourage the author to use a standard attachment format (MSWord95/97, RTF or standard text). However, copy will be accepted in the body of an email message.
• For submissions made by campus mail, it is strongly recommended that the material be hand-delivered to our mailbox in SAO before 4:30, as we do not have control over central mail delivery times and access to the mailbox.

• Every On-Campus ad MUST include a Tech News Insertion Order form, either attached or filled-out on our web site. Ads received without a completed insertion order will not be published. Forms are available online, from the Tech News office or from the Student Activities office.
• Ad submissions are accepted by US Mail, Campus Mail, e-mail, or on a floppy disk. All ads must be camera-ready (i.e. laser quality or better). Color ads should be printed with the appropriate color separation. Ads that do not fit size specifications may incur an additional resizing fee, assigned at the discretion of the Graphics Editor and Editor-in-Chief. Valid electronic file formats include: Adobe Pagemaker (.pm6), Adobe Photoshop (.psd), Adobe PDF (.pdf), Microsoft Word (.doc), Microsoft Powerpoint (.ppt), tif, gif, eps, jpg.

The WPI Newspeak Association, which publishes Tech News, has an Editorial Board of 12 as well as additional staff members who are well versed and trained in the various tasks that go into newspaper production. Newspapers are what we do best and we'll be glad to share knowledge with you at any time! We welcome you to contact or meet with any one of us to make sure that your submission the best it can be. Click here for a list of contact persons.

Office hours will be posted on the web, as well as in the first edition of the paper each term. The Tech News staff will try to keep these hours whenever possible so that someone is available in the office to help you with your needs. If, however, you have an urgent concern. Please contact one of our editors by email immediately.