Many resources are located in The Bell Ringer office. They are there for you to use. Stories with too many stylebook, spelling or grammatical errors will be returned for correction, resulting in the possible loss of publication of your story. When composing your article, consult the following resources in the order they are listed:
- The Bell Ringer Stylebook
- The Associated Press Stylebook
- Working with Words
- Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition
General Submission Guidelines:
Submissions should be typed in Word and saved as plain text documents. Articles should be single-spaced, 10 pt font size, with double-spacing between paragraphs and no indents. Every article must have a minimum of two sources and must be at least XX words.
Headlines
Headlines should be in present tense. Only the first word and any proper nouns are capitalized. Compose a short headline and a longer headline. The short headline should be aligned left and appear as the top line on the document. The longer headline should be aligned left on the next line on the document. Next, the reporter's byline is aligned left on the third line, followed by the reporter's position (staff writer, correspondent, editor, etc.) on the next line. Then, the reporter's e-mail address is aligned left on the fifth line.
Example
Winter weather causes problems B1
(B1 indicates that this is the first story on your budget)
Winter weather causes transportation problems for students and faculty
Josh Heath
News Editor
jheath1@aug.edu.
Correspondents' e-mail addresses are listed as bellringer@aug.edu. After the e-mail address, double-space and begin the lead without an indent.
E-mail Procedures:
Writers e-mail stories to the section editor before deadline. Section editors e-mail all stories to editor prior to deadline unless an extension is granted. All stories should have the short headline, such as "Winter weather causes problems B3," in the subject line of e-mail. The B3 indicates that this is the third story on your budget. Revisions should be noted such as "Winter weather causes problems B3 Rev 1."
Photos:
Individuals whose faces are clearly identifiable in photos should be identified.
Photos of real people with real names are more interesting than generic student photos.
Quotes:
If you quote a student, please include the full name, year, and major. When quoting school staff members, you should include their title and department. When quoting professors, please include their official title.
Sources:
If you use information gathered from a source such as a newspaper or magazine article or a U-wire story, please place a copy of this or any other source material in the editor's box in the office by the noon deadline on Tuesday. Likewise, if a professor or staff person gives you information to use, such as a brochure, turn in a copy of this, as well. If you used an Internet source, print out the section and include the Web address. This aids with fact checking.
Announcements:
Announcements should follow the elements of a lead-- who or what , followed by time , day or date , room number (if applicable) and place . Admission prices and details should follow along with any contact information.
Examples
A Winter Gathering of Writers will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 28 in Room E157 of Allgood Hall. Admission: Free. Contact: Professor Kellman 667-4437.
ASU Theatre will present "Guernica" at 8 p.m. on Feb. 12-14 and at 3 p.m. on Feb. 15 in the Grover C. Maxwell Performing Arts Theatre. Admission: Adults $10, children $5, faculty and students with valid IDs-Free. Contact: Professor Joiner 667-1234.
Majors:
The names of all majors should be lowercase, except those that are proper names of languages
Examples
John Brown, junior English major
Senior chemistry major Joe Smith
Sara Carr, freshman biology major
Junior Spanish major Ty Green
Citing the School :
On first reference, use Augusta State University. On second reference, use Augusta State.
Names:
Administration- First reference: Full name and title
Second reference: Last name only
Faculty- First reference: Professor plus full name, dept
Second reference: Last name only
Staff- First reference: Full name, title, and dept
Subsequent references Last name only
Students- First reference: Full name, year, and major
Subsequent references Last name only
SGA- See legislative titles in AP Stylebook
When two people in the story have the same last name, use their whole names without titles on second and all subsequent references.
Note:The president of Augusta State University should be identified as President William A. Bloodworth Jr. on first reference, as Bloodworth on the second and all other subsequent references.
Leads:
Leads should be 35 words or less, aimed at grabbing the reader's attention in as concise a manner as possible.
Passive Voice and Wordiness:
Passive voice and past tense are not to be confused. Past tense is simply stated with no form of the verb to be.
Examples
Passive: Pieces of the Arsenal Oak were taken home as remembrances by the faculty.
Past: Faculty members took pieces of the Arsenal Oak as remembrances.
Avoid passive voice constructions whenever possible. Use active voice instead. Passive voice is wordy, while active voice gets the information across with greater force and impact.
The passive voice has three characteristics:
- It uses some form of the verb to be (was, were).
- It uses the past participle of the main verb (ends in en or ed --asked, spoken).
- The word by or for is either present or implied.
Sentences that begin with it is or there are are passive and need lots of words to make a point.
Voice should remain consistent within a sentence.
Examples
Passive:There are frequent occasions when students visit the campus health clinic.
Active: Students frequently visit the campus health clinic.
Passive: She will be a participant in the marathon.
Active: She will participate in the marathon.
Exceptions
When the person being acted upon is more important than the person doing the acting: President Kennedy was shot today by an unknown gunman.
The verb divorce must always be passive voice or transitive:
- They were divorced (passive).
- He divorced her (transitive).
Semesters:
Capitalize the name of the season when referring to semesters with the year indicated.
Examples
Fall 2006
Spring 2007
fall semester
spring semester
Department Titles:
Capitalize department names when using them formally.
Examples
Professor Lillie B. Johnson, chair of the Department of Languages, Literature, and Communications
Jasper Cooke, director of Public Safety
Academic Titles:
Capitalize titles only when they precede a name. Lowercase elsewhere.
Examples
Samuel Sullivan, vice president for Academic Affairs
Mark Miller, dean of Business Administration
Director of Public Safety Jasper Cooke
Director of Honors Program James Garvey
Professors:
Examples
Ray Whiting, professor of political science
Michael Searles, assistant professor of history
Jana Sandarg, professor of Spanish
Note:
The Bell Ringer usually drops the comma before the word and as recommended by the AP. But, if the department regularly uses a comma before the word and in its title, then the comma should be used.
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