The Technique
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- This article is about the college newspaper. For other uses, see Technique.
The Technique, also known as the "'Nique", is the official student newspaper of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia.
It is published weekly during the Fall and Spring semesters, with the exceptions of "Dead Week," finals week and Spring Break and is published biweekly during the Summer semester. General staff meetings are held on Tuesdays, when most story assignments are made to a mostly volunteer writing staff. Deadline is on Wednesday nights during weeks when the paper is published, and the copy is sent to the printer on Thursday morning. The paper is then distributed around the campus on the Friday of that week. The Technique's office is located in the northwest corner of the Student Services Building.
The first issue of The Technique was published on November 17, 1911.[1] The paper, operated by a staff of approximately 50 paid and unpaid students, as well as three permanent, paid, non-student staff members, refers to itself as "the South's Liveliest College Newspaper."[2] As Georgia Tech has no journalism school, The Technique welcomes all students within the Institute to contribute to its content. The Technique is funded primarily by advertisements, and to a lesser extent by Tech's Student Government Association.[3] In 2004 it was one of 25 collegiate newspapers to receive the Pacemaker award from the Associated Collegiate Press.[4]
Contents |
[edit] Organization
The Technique is generally between 16 and 40 pages long, the length of an issue being dependent upon the number of advertisements purchased for a given week. The paper is organized into five sections:
- Includes Georgia Tech-specific crime reports and news.
- Focus (formerly Student Life)
- Includes human interest stories.
- Includes reviews of music, movies, performance arts, and video games, cartoons, a crossword puzzle, sudoku puzzles, and the Two Bits column.
- Includes editorials, an editorial cartoon, op-eds, and letters to the editor.
- Includes summaries of recent Georgia Tech sports games and sports features.
[edit] Special editions
Possibly the most well-known of the special issues The Technique publishes is a satire of The University of Georgia's student newspaper (The Red and Black). The tradition of this parody dates back to the very first issue of The Technique, which was published with the intent of taunting Georgia Tech's rival school. It is published just before the two schools compete in football and is one of the last issues of the Fall semester. The parody is known as "To Hell With Georgia," after the school's popular cheer.[5]
The Freshman Issue is another special edition of The Technique. It is the first issue published each academic year and is by far the longest issue, with each of the sections about as long as a normal issue. The content usually centers on the themes of welcoming Freshmen and welcoming returning students back. The Freshman Issue also contains a special section dedicated to helping Freshmen become more acquainted with Tech and its customs.[6] It is generally the only issue in which content from previous issues is reprinted.
Other special editions include the Homecoming issue, the April Fool's issue (which includes a section of fake news parodying Tech in a similar style to the "To Hell With Georgia" issue) and the "Best of Tech" issue, which is the final issue of the Spring semester.
[edit] Features
[edit] Two Bits Man
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Two Bits Man is the sarcastic everyday virtuoso who concerns himself with all things unremarkable and utterly commonplace. His articles range from relentless sickly sniffles to school-wide subjects of controversy or interest.
The Technique features a humor column called "Two Bits," which is authored by the mysterious Two Bits Man. The Two Bits Man recently wrote a column lamenting that he does not have his own Wikipedia article.[7]
[edit] Sliver Box
One of The Technique's most popular features is the Sliver Box, an analogue of the Vent feature of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which allows readers to submit any comment they wish. Comments are submitted on the Technique's website and as many Slivers that will fit appear in the week's paper, usually in order of submission. Slivers are subject to minimal censorship, with only full names of non-public figures, personal information and strong profanities typically removed or altered. Other entries are occasionally removed or truncated, usually in cases of spamming of the Sliver submission system. According to the paper, the Box is used to fill empty room left between advertisements.[8] It is not uncommon for students to have conversations using the Sliver Box. Slivers were originally comments made by editorial board members during deadline night and were placed in narrow boxes ("Slivers") at the bottom of each page. Comments made on deadline night and opinions of editorial board members still occasionally find their way into the Sliver Box.
[edit] References
- ^ Technique Staff Manual and Style Guide (PDF)
- ^ Official website
- ^ FY 2006-2007 Student Activity Fee Budget, As Passed (Excel document)
- ^ 2004 ACP Newspaper Pacemaker Winners
- ^ T-Book: Traditions: "The Good Word"
- ^ 2006 Freshman Issue archive
- ^ Two Bits wastes away life editing Wikipedia, Googling own name
- ^ Avoid common sliver misconceptions
