Campus Press Style Guide

Campus Press style guide (updated 4/3/03 for CU Book Store; Time, Date, Place; Abbreviations, Sexual Orientation; 4/13/03 for Cuts of baseball and wrestling in Sports)

Please refer to both this and the Associated Press style guide when writing your articles for the Campus Press. This guide lists exceptions and additions to the AP Stylebook. For all items not mentioned in this guide, refer to AP then the dictionary.

Abbreviations -- For months: Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. ?MARCH, APRIL, MAY, JUNE, JULY ARE NOT ?For states: Ala., Ariz., Ark., Cali., Colo., Conn., Del., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Kan., Ky., La., Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Mont., Neb., Nev., N.H., N.J., N.M., N.Y., N.C., N.D., Okla., Ore., Pa., R.I., S.C., S.D., Tenn., Vt., Va., Wash., W.Va., Wis., Wyo. ALASKA, HAWAII, IDAHO, IOWA, MAINE, OHIO, TEXAS, UTAH ARE NOT ??
Little hint to remember ... if it's less than five letters, spell out. Alaska and Hawaii are the exceptions.

According to - Said is preferred when it is a comment coming from a person. Use "according to" when the information was gathered from a written document (i.e. police report, statistics, etc.).

Acronym — Do not use acronyms that the reader would not quickly recognize. There is no need to place the acronym immediately after the spelled-out name. Incorrect: "Cultural Events Board (CEB)." Take out " (CEB)" and use the acronym on following references. If the word’s acronym is not clear, do not use it. Also, avoid filling stories with acronyms. You do not want a whole paragraph about how the UCSU decided that the CEB’s budget should be bigger than that of the ASSG. This can be avoided by substitution. For example: The student government decided that the events board’s budget should be greater than that of the ASSG.

Affect/effect — Adhere to AP Stylebook. "Affect" is a verb and means to influence. "Effect," as a verb, means to cause. "Effect," as a noun, means a result.

Alferd Packer Grill — Not Alfred Packer Grill. Capitalize Grill when using alone on second and subsequent references.

Because of — Use because of, not "due to," whenever you can ask why. Incorrect: The game was canceled due to rain. Correct: The game was canceled because of rain.

Board of Regents — Capitalize. Second reference: use "regents." Do not capitalize the word "regents" when it stands alone.

Boulder police — Use Boulder police on first reference; police thereafter. Exception: If the CU police are also mentioned in the story, use Boulder police or Boulder Police Department to avoid confusion.

Boulder Police Department— On second reference can use Boulder PD or Boulder police, but use "Boulder PD" sparingly.

Byline — Put this (but insert your name) at the top of every story: By Alicia Wallace Campus Press staff writer

Chairman/chairwoman; Councilman/councilwoman — Use chairwoman or chairman, councilman, councilwoman, etc. Never use chair/councilperson.

Colleges, schools, departments — Names of CU colleges, schools and departments are capitalized as they appear in the CU phone directory (College of Music, Leeds School of Business, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, etc.) But lowercase when using an informal title, i.e. journalism school, business school, etc.

Colorado cities — Exception to the "datelines" entry in the AP Stylebook. These following cities can stand alone: Aspen, Boulder (and surrounding small towns), Colorado Springs, Denver, Denver suburbs, Estes Park, Fort Collins, Fort Morgan, Grand Junction, Greeley, Longmont, Louisville, Pueblo, Telluride and Vail. For cities not commonly known, use Colorado. Example: Monte Vista, Colo.

Communication major — Not communications major. There is no "S." (Also see majors entry).

Coors Events Center — Not CU Events Center. On second reference: Events Center.

CQ — Use "CQ" to tag unusual names as being correct. Example: Jon CQ Smyth CQ. Make sure the name has been checked with your interviewee before using CQ. Also double-check and use CQ to tag addresses and phone numbers. DO NOT CQ ANYTHING UNLESS YOU HAVE DOUBLE-CHECKED IT. IT IS A SIN NOT TO CQ; IT IS A DOUBLE-SIN TO CQ INFORMATION THAT IS INCORRECT.

CU administrators — Use proper name of position following the person’s name. Example: Ron Stump, vice chancellor for student affairs. Refer to CU phone directory for official positions. When following a name, the title is always lowercase.

CU Book Store -- Two words. Book and Store are both capitalized. Use Book Store on subsequent references.

CU Police Department — Use CU Police Department on first reference; CUPD thereafter. (See above entry regarding usage with Boulder Police Department).

Dash — Use dashes to denote an abrupt change of thought. See AP Stylebook. How to make a dash: shift/option hyphen. Note: There are spaces BEFORE AND AFTER the dash. Example: (space)— (space) ??Dalton Trumbo Memorial Fountain — May also use UMC Fountain. For both listings, use Fountain on second reference.

Disc — Use "disc" when referring to a compact disc; and use "disk" when referring to a computer disk.

Dorms — Use formal name of CU residence halls on first reference, "Farrand Hall," and dorm thereafter. Check CU directory for spellings of names.

Ellipsis — Treat the ellipsis as if it were a three-letter word — that is, put a space on each side. Example: (space)… (space)

e-mail — Not E-mail or electronic mail.

Gay (see Sexual Orientation) —

Glenn Miller Ballroom — Use full name on first reference, and "Ballroom" thereafter.

He/She/Their — There is always a way to restructure the sentence and make the subject and verb plural, thus avoiding the awkward he/she phrasing. Example: Instead of writing "if a student wishes to continue his/her education …" write "if students wish to continue their education…"

Identification — Students must be identified by their year in school and their major. Exceptions: sports and legislative titles. Example: Jim Brown, a junior music major, said … If possible, spread the identification out. For administration and faculty, identify by title or position. "A person working for the Office of Financial Aid" or "of the financial aid office" is not acceptable. YOU MUST HAVE THE POSITION OR TITLE. If you don’t have any part of this information or question its accuracy, call the person. DON’T BE AFRAID TO USE THE TELEPHONE, MISSPELLED NAMES WILL NOT BE TOLERATED (Also see CQ entry).

Internet — Capitalized.

Like/As — Adhere to AP Stylebook. "Like" is a preposition that compares nouns and pronouns. For example: John works like a maniac. "As" is a conjunction and introduces clauses. For example: John pulls all-nighters on Monday as he should.

Majors — Majors are lowercase. Example: Kim Carter, a junior political science major or Bob Brady, a senior open-option major (NOTE HYPHENATION). Exception: English major, French major, Spanish major, etc. Abbreviated majors: MCD biology; EPO biology.

Minority groups — Use the person’s preference when relevant to a story. Example: Latino/Latina; Chicano/Chicana; African or African American; Native American or American Indian, with tribal affiliation. Use AP style for general references: Hispanic, black, etc. Never use a minority reference in the lead of a crime story: "A Hispanic man robbed the CU Credit Union on Thursday." References to race or ethnic groups (white, black, etc.) are acceptable when describing suspects in a crime (not in the lead).
When deciding to use someone's race, ask yourself these questions: 1. Is the information needed? 2. Is it important to the context of the story? 3. Would the story be complete without mention of the race? ?(Also see sexual orientation entry).

Nouns that take singular pronouns — All governing boards, departments, companies, etc., take singular pronouns. Examples: The Board of Regents split 5-4 during its (not their) evaluation of Albino. The Boulder City Council will consider Broadway construction at its (not their) meeting Tuesday night. But: Members of the Boulder City Council will consider Broadway construction at their (not its) meeting Tuesday night.

Obscenity — Obscenities may be used only when directly relevant to the story and only with the managing editor’s approval.

Party affiliation — Adhere to AP Stylebook. Example: Rep. Mark Udall, D-Boulder.

Parenthetical clarification in a quote — If there are words within a quotation that might need more clarification, put a substitute word in parentheses — not brackets. For example: If the original quotation is about students getting in trouble with the police by using fake IDs … "You would think they should know better by now." Clarify by: "You would think (the students) should know better by now." This way, people know that the person is talking about the students and not the police. Note: Use sparingly. Most of these situations can be avoided by clarifying the context of the quote in the preceding paragraph.

Professor — Capitalize when used before a name. Never abbreviate.

Residential Adviser — Note the spelling of adviser. Capitalize when used as a title before a name. On subsequent references use "RA" (no periods).

Says/said — Use said instead of says in news stories. However, says may be used in some highly featurized news stories, columns, entertainment stories, or with an editor’s approval. Also: It’s "… Jones said." Not, "…said Jones," unless further identification of Jones follows. Correct: Dorm overcrowding is a major problem," said Jones, a senior music major.

September 11, 2001 — Use 9/11 when referring to this date or issues associated with it. If someone is quoted as saying "Sept. 11," can use parenthetical clarification. For example: "I think (9/11) was the most important thing to ever happen to me."

Sexual Orientation -- Do not use sexual preference or sexual persuasion. Use gay, lesbian, bisexual, heterosexual, queer, transgender, etc. to refer to a specific person when relevant to a story. Never incorrectly identify a person participating in a gay/queer political event — especially in photographs. Ask the person if they want to be identified and how they want to be identified. When deciding to use someone's sexual orientation, ask yourself these questions: 1. Is the information needed? 2. Is it important to the context of the story? 3. Would the story be complete without mention of the orientation? ?(Also see minority entry).
Be careful about headlines. What may be considered playful to you may be considered offensive to community members. Do not call groups or people homosexuals. Homosexual is a clinical term that applies to behavior. The use of the word homosexual is often offensive to the community. Refer to the community as "members of the GLBTQ community." On first reference, spell out as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer community. Second reference, use the acronym. To not get caught up in using GLBTQ constantly, you can use sexual minorities. See and contact GLBT Resource Center if any concerns or questions.

Spelling — Do not misspell tomorrow, recommend, accommodate, protester, demonstrator, ensure, canceled, traveled, Glenn Miller, Phil DiStefano, embarrass, opportunity, accept and except, affect and effect, harass, adviser, used to (not "use to") or anything else. IF IN DOUBT, LOOK IT UP!

Spokesperson - Use spokesman or spokeswoman when you are quoting a person who works for the media relations department for a specific organization.

Student government — Use University of Colorado Student Union to refer to CU’s student government. Use UCSU on subsequent references. Use Tri-executive or Representative as titles for members of UCSU. Do not shorten to Tri-exec or Rep-at-large unless used as such in a direct quote. Example: Luz Quinonez, UCSU representative; or, Rep. Luz Quinonez. Use a hyphen when spelling Tri-executive. Capitalize only the T in tri-executive when used as a title: "said Tri-executive Latifah Al-Attas."
Capitalize the branches of the UCSU. This includes the Tri-executives, the Legislative Council, the Rules Committee, etc. Student Recreation Center — Use Rec Center predominantly unless referred to as "Student Recreation Center" in a quote. That/which — Generally, use commas with which. Example: The dorms, which hold 800 people, are overcrowded. The dorms that are on the south side of the campus are overcrowded. Incorrect: The dorms which are on the south side of the campus are overcrowded. See essential/non-essential clauses entry in the AP Stylebook.

Time, Date, Place -- The order when referencing an event. The rally will be held at 1 p.m. April 10 at the UMC Fountain. Note the punctuation here: The event will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, April 10, at the UMC Fountain. University — Do not capitalize when referring to CU. For example: CU is big — the university monopolizes Boulder.

University of Colorado — CU (no periods) on references to the Boulder campus. When referring to the other three campuses, use University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, CU-Colorado Springs thereafter. University of Colorado at Denver, CU-Denver thereafter. CU Health Sciences Center on first reference, Health Sciences thereafter.

University Hill — Don’t spell out University Hill — most people simply know it as "the Hill." Capitalize "Hill," since it stands for University Hill.

University Memorial Center — Don’t use the full name — no one says "let’s go eat lunch in the University Memorial Center." Spelling it out causes awkwardness. People say UMC. Don’t put periods in UMC.

Web site — Two separate words. (Also see World Wide Web entry).

WebMail — The university's e-mail system. It is not hyphenated and the 'M' is uppercase.

Williams Village — Use "Williams Village" (no apostrophe) in first reference to the complex of dorms southeast of campus. On subsequent references, use Will Vill.

World Wide Web — Capitalize. On second reference, Web is OK.

You — Acceptable in highly stylized features, some entertainment reviews and editorials. Avoid using "you" or "we" in leads.

SPORTS

Big 12 — Do not use Roman numerals or spell out. Cuts of baseball and wrestling -- Do not say "Because of Title IX, wrestling and baseball were cut in 1980." It was not Title IX that caused the sports to be eliminated from varsity status. The Athletic Department at the time was going through a series of budget cuts and troubles with the director at the time. Read the Campus Press or local media archives from the time before publishing an article about the cuts.
It would be OK to say "Because of budget cuts (or budgetary problems) in the Athletic Department, baseball, wrestling, among other sports were eliminated in 1980). ??Division I ?Use Roman numeral.

Rankings — Always use AP ranking and acknowledge that it is AP.

Spellings — Buffaloes, walk-on, redshirt, Top 20, No. 1, tip-off (n.) tip off (v.), All-Star, All-Conference, Athlete-of-the-week, three-pointer, Ceal Barry, etc.

Team names — Use plural verbs when referring to a team by its nickname. Correct: The Buffs are ranked No. 1 by AP. Incorrect: CU, which defeated Miami, are ranked No. 1 by AP.

ENTERTAINMENT

Band names — Use plural verbs when referring to bands with plural names and singular verbs to all other bands. Example: The Dave Matthews Band is and The Samples are.

Said/says — Both can be used, but remain consistent of tense throughout the story.
Spellings — Glenn Miller Ballroom, rhythm ‘n’ blues, rock ‘n’ rolls, Top 40, Boulder Theater, Fox Theatre, Tulagi (not Tulagi’s).