The purpose of this styleguide is to help Washburn Review staff members better understand the style of newspapers. Many of the following entries have been taken from the Associated Press Stylebook 2005 and Briefing on Media Law (2005, Associated Press, New York, NY, 40th Edition). Many of the entries have been changed to fit the adopted style of the Washburn Review, or examples have been changed for a better understanding.
A academic degrees - associate degree, bachelor's degree, master's degree and doctoral degree, bachelor of arts degree and bachelor of science degree. Set the letters off in the sentence with commas - Ex. John Jones, who received his B.A. from Washburn, died yesterday.
academic titles - University teachers are lecturers, instructors, assistant professors, associate professors and professors, in that order. Check titles carefully before using them.
addresses - Adhere to AP stylebook. Use the abbreviations Ave., Blvd., and St. only with a numbered address: 1700 S.W. College Ave. All similar words (alley, drive, road, terrace) are spelled out. Always use figures for an address number. Spell out and capitalize First through Ninth when used as street names. Abbreviate compass points. Examples 1700 S.W. College Ave.
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 to result.
ages - always use figures
alumnus, alumni, alumna, alumnae - Adhere to AP stylebook. These terms refer to people have have attended (but not necessarily graduated from) a school. A male is an alumnus. A group of men are alumni. A female is an alumnae. A group of females are alumnae. A group of people that includes both males and females are alumni.
Art Building - built in 2004.
B because of - Use because of, not due to, whenever you ask why. Incorrect: The games was canceled due to rain. Correct: The game was canceled (why?) because of rain.
Bennett Computer Center - This is the building just east of Morgan.
Benton Hall - This is the building between the International House and Henderson.
Bianchino Pavilion - Building by the football field.
Board of Regents - Capitalize. Do not capitalize the word "regents" when it stands alone. Use complete name on first reference - Washburn Board of Regents.
Bradbury Thompson Center - the exact name of the large hall in the Bradbury Thompson Center is the Ruth Garvey Fink Convocation Hall.
building names - Art Building, Benton Hall, Bianchino Pavilion, Bennett Computer Center, Bradbury Thompson Center, Carnegie Hall, Legal Clinic, Falley Field, Facilities Services, Garvey Fine Arts Center, Andrew J. & Georgia Neese Gray Theatre, Henderson, Heat Plant, International House, Kuehne Hall, Law School, Lee Arena, Living Learning Center, Mabee Library, Memorial Union, Moore Bowl, Morgan Hall, Petro Allied Health Center, Post Office, Softball Complex, Stauffer Commons Food Court, Soccer Field, Student Recreation and Wellness Center, Stoffer Science Hall, KTWU, White Concert Hall, Whiting Field House, West Hall, Yager Stadium at Moore Bowl. (see individual listings for 2nd reference use)
C capital, capitol - capital is a city, capitol is a building.
Campus Activities Board - use CAB on second reference. The organization hosts events for students on campus.
Carnegie Hall - houses the education department
chairwoman, chairman - use instead of chairperson, unless that is the organization's formal title. Do not capitalize.
class of _____ - Don't capitalize. Ex. - John Doe was a member of the class of 1930.
commencement - Always lowercase spring commencement, commencement exercises.
course work - two words
D department names - lower case except for English department. Only capitalize when used with Washburn University. Ex. - Washburn University Mass Media Department.
Department names - will get.
doctoral degree, doctorate - A doctoral candidate receives either a doctoral degree or a doctorate. Not a doctorate degree.
dorms - do not call the Living Learning Center a dorm. It is a residence hall.
E editor in chief - not hyphenated
e-mail - hyphenated
F fall break - down style on all references
Falley Field - baseball field.
Farley, Jerry - do NOT use middle initial
fraternities - Identify fraternities and sororities on first mention as: Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, Alpha Delta fraternity. Don't use the Greek organizations nicknames or initials. The fraternities are Alpha Delta, Kappa Sigma, Phi Delta Theta, Delta Chi and Sigma Phi Epsilon.
fraternity brother, sorority sister - Do not use fraternity brother or sorority sister unless in a direct quote. Instead use fraternity or sorority member or student.
G Garvey Fine Arts Center
governor - It's Gov. before a name and the governor when it stands alone.
grade point average - Spell out on first reference. Second reference: GPA.
H he/she/their - When writing a hypothetical situation, never use he/she. 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."
Henderson Learning Resources Center - use Henderson.
home page
I iCard - It provides the WIN number for every student and faculty member, and is used by students as a free pass into most Washburn events.
identification - students must be identified by their year in school and their major. Example: said John Doe, a junior music major. For faculty members, administration and staff members, identify by title or position. Get a business card for accuracy.
International House - houses offices for studying abroad, and many Brown Bag Luncheon Lectures.
Internet
Interfraternity Council
J
K Kuehne Hall
KTWU television studio - the broadcast studio is officially titled the Ruth Garvey Fink studio.
L Lee Arena - located inside of the Petro Allied Health Center.
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 Tuesdays as he should.
Living Learning Center
M mall - West Ridge Mall
Mabee Library
majors - Majors are lowercase. Example - John Doe, political science major. Exceptions to this rule are languages. Example - John Doe, a senior English major, studies.
Memorial Student Union
Moore Bowl - old football stadium. New stadium is Yager Stadium at Moore Bowl.
Morgan Hall - official name is The Margaret Mulvane Morgan Memorial Building, but we will just use Morgan Hall.
N 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 Albe. The Topeka City Council will consider Open Space issues at its (not their) meeting Monday night. But: Members of the Topeka City Council will consider Open Space issues at their (not its) meeting Monday night. The School of Business honored nine student during its (not their) picnic Monday.
numbers - one through nine are spelled out, and 10 through infinity are spelled out. See sports styleguide for specifics regarding sports reporting.
O Obscenity - Obscenities may be used only when directly relevant to the story and only with the editor?s approval.
OK - never okay. Other forms: OKs, OK'd.
online - one word, no hyphen.
P page numbers - Lowercase the "p" on page. Ex. - Please see WALK page 5.
Panhellenic Council - use full name on first mention. If just referring to it as the council, lowercase council. This is the council that oversees Washburn?s sorority system.
Petro Allied Health Center
Ph.D. - avoid using this, see doctoral degrees
phone numbers - always use area codes, and put area codes in parentheses. For example, the Review office phone number is (785) 670?2506. No spaces in between dash, but a space after 785.
professor - lowercase, don?t abbreviate. Don't use: "professor Baker said." just say, "said Baker."
Q R S says/said - always use said, and use it before the name. Example - "said John Doe."
school - There are five schools at Washburn: The School of Applied Studies, The School of Business, The School of Law, The School of Nursing and the College of Arts and Sciences.
sororities - Identify fraternities and sororities on first mention as: Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, Alpha Delta fraternity. Don?t use the Greek organizations nicknames or initials. The sororities are Alpha Phi, Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta and Zeta Tau Alpha.
spring break - always downstyle
Stauffer Commons
Stoffer Science Hall
Strength and Conditioning Facility - the facility for athletes in Petro. Capital Federal made a large donation for this facility.
Student Activities and Greek Life - oversees CAB and WSGA, as well as the entire Greek system at Washburn.
Student government - Use Washburn Student Government Association to refer to Washburn's student government. Use WSGA on second reference.
Student Recreation and Wellness Center - Free for students with iCard. Faculty must pay a fee.
T
theater - Andrew J. and Georgia Neese Gray Theatre, note the spelling of Theatre. Do not use university theater or little theater.
U
University - do not capitalize unless used with a formal name.
V
very - use this word rarely.
Veterans Day - No apostrophe.
W
Washburn University - use Washburn on 2nd reference
Washburn Village - Do not refer to as "the village" on second reference. Use to be referred to as transitional housing. It is the housing complex on 21st and MacVicar. Freshmen are not allowed to live in the complex.
West Hall
White Concert Hall
Whiting Field House
X
Y
Yager Stadium at Moore Bowl - football stadium at Washburn.
you - acceptable in highly stylized features, some entertainment reviews and editorials. Avoid using ?you? or ?we? in leads.
Follows AP style/grammar conventions except in the following instances:
A&E - no spaces
Fragments - OK, but only for emphasis, and should be used on occasion to show effect.
Headlines - can contain fragments, can make judgments ("Jack Johnson is a tool for Universal Studios"), can contain spelling errors for effect ("Morrissey is so saaaaaaaad!"), can be like book titles ("Camping: A Treatise on Hell") and should be loud and eye-catching above all.
I - The writer can use the word "I" to describe his or her experience with writing the article. If it's not a review, make sure it is not too judgemental. Unless it is a CD or movie review, in which case, the more judgmental the better.
ledes - the writer may begin the lede with a question or an exclamation or a definition or whatever, and may employ all these rhetorical devices at any point in the article.
Obscenity - Obscenities and slang should not be used gratuitously, and the slang must be understandable to the reader. Notify editor if we do use obscenities.
said - does not always have to be used. Example - "It is a woodland creature," exclaimed the lady in the derby hat. In this instance, the writer can use a more descriptive "said" verb, and if the person from whom the quote was taken isn?t central to the story, there is no need to list their first and last name, especially if they refuse to give it.
non-existent words - OK, but not excessive. Often used for descriptiveness.
All-Star, All-Conference, Athlete-of-the-week - all hyphenated.
backfield, backstop, backstretch - refer to Webster's New World for consistency
ball carrier - two words
baseball terms - refer to page 282 in AP styleguide 2005
basketball terms - refer to page 284 in AP styleguide 2005
Division II - Capitalize and use numeral. This is the division Washburn is in. Schools are ranked by student population.
ERA - earned run average. Abbreviate acceptable on all references.
football terms - refer to page 289 in AP Styleguide 2005
golf terms - refer to page 291 in AP Styleguide 2005
handicaps - Use figures, hyphenating adjectival forms before a noun. Example - He has a 3 handicap, he is 3-handicap golfer.
Ichabods - OK to use Bods, but make sure apostrophes are correct.
MIAA - Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. On first reference you can use MIAA.
numbers - one through nine are spelled out, 10 - infinity are numerical. Example - first base, 10th inning, second place, 11 RBIs. Exception - records and scores are all numerical. Example - The pitcher's record is 6-5. The final score was 10-1.
offseason - no hyphen
play off (verb), playoff and playoffs (noun and adjective)
postseason, preseason - no hyphens
rankings - No. 1
record - avoid the redundant "new record."
redshirt
scores - Always use figures, and use a hyphen without spaces in between the letters.
soccer terms - see page 296 in AP Styleguide 2005
team names - Men's teams are Ichabod Football, Ichabod Basketball, etc. Women?s teams are Lady Blues Volleyball, Lady Blues Tennis.
tennis scores - Scores should be reported 6-4, 5-6, 3-4. Indicate tiebrakers in parentheses after the set score.
tip-off (noun) and tip off (verb)
Top 20
walk-on
yard lines - Use figures to indicate the dividing lines on a football field and distance traveled: 3-yard line, 60-yard line. He ran 8 yards, a 5-yard gain. Use all numbers when referring to yard lines.
