INTRODUCTION 

It is the feeling of the UAD Board of Directors that deaf people as citizens and consumers of Utah have the right, duty and responsibility to express their desires, needs, and feelings to the Utah Association for the Deaf and to the power structure of the State of Utah. 

While the UAD does not claim to speak for ALL deaf people, it does feel that one of its duties is to provide forums for its members and deaf people in general to speak their minds on issues of concern.One of these forums is The UAD Bulletin. 

Therefore a policy is necessary to govern this particular forum in a way that will benefit the deaf community to the greatest degree possible.

I. Freedom of the Press 
          The UAD supports freedom of the press and of expression, but certain articles may not reflect the policies of the UAD, its Board of Directors and its officers. The fact that an article or letter to the editor is accepted for publication does not mean that the UAD supports the viewpoints therein, but only that the UAD respects a diversity of opinion.

 II. Submitted materials
          Opinions, feelings, statements and articles on issues affecting the deaf community by local deaf people are strongly encouraged and may have up to 450 words, while "Letters to the Editor" may have up to 250 words. Without exception, all articles and letters submitted for publication must have the full name, address and telephone number of the author. (The address and telephone number may be omitted by the editor.) Personal, disparaging or vicious verbal attacks on individuals are not acceptable in any article or letter to the editor and will not be published. All material is subject to editing to fit available space.

III. Utah slant favored
          Utah news and material submitted by deaf Utahns have greater publishing priority than quotes, clippings or stories from other publications. A maximum of two quotes or articles from other publications (of not more than 450 words) are permitted in each issue; however in unusual circumstances the editor has discretion and may wish to consult with the chairperson of the Editorial Subcommittee for inclusion of longer material of high interest to the deaf people of Utah.

IV. The Publisher
          The Utah Association for the Deaf, Inc., acting through its Board of Directors, is the publisher of The UAD Bulletin. It has overall responsibility for its operations through its assigned personnel as outlined in its Guidelines.

The following Guidelines will be the operational plan for The UAD Bulletin, subject to changes by the Publisher. 

GUIDELINES 

1. Policy Decisions 
          General policy decisions affecting The UAD Bulletin are made by the Board of Directors. Examples: Frequency of publication; whether to charge for subscriptions or not; financing and other decisions not anticipated. The chairperson of the UAD Bulletin committee, and the Editor, may request policy decisions from the Board as circumstances may require. 
2. Chair of the UAD Bulletin committee 
          The chairperson of the UAD Bulletin committee is appointed by the Board on recommendation of the President or other members of the Board. The chairperson serves at the pleasure of the Board, and must be reappointed at the first meeting of the Board of Directors immediately following the biennial convention. 
3. Duties of the chairperson 
          The chairperson oversees the general operations of The UAD Bulletin; Assists the Editor when requested; Appoints the UAD Bulletin committee and other committees as needed based upon their interest, availability, skills and knowledge of editorial matters, computers, software and printing; Recruits a dispatcher, who will be responsible for changes of addresses, coding, printing and affixing labels, expiration dates on subscriptions and notification, securing necessary supplies for operations, and mailing promptly each month or at a time otherwise determined by the Board of Directors; And performs other duties within the general area of responsibilities involved in maintaining regular publication of the paper. 
4. Editorial subcommittee 
          The chairperson of the editorial subcommittee is appointed by the Chairperson of the UAD Bulletin committee. The chairperson of the subcommittee may select members of this committee. The duty of the editorial subcommittee is to advise and assist the editor, when requested, with respect to suitability of material submitted for publication, whether letters, news, advertisements or articles. 
5. Complaints 
          It is recognized that from time to time problems may arise with material that is submitted, printed or omitted. Persons who have complaints may wish to discuss them first with the Editor, then with the editorial subcommittee. 
6. The Editor: Duties 
          The general duties of the editor as follows: 

1. To assemble news items, articles, letters to the editor, advertisements and other materials and to publish them in the official paper of the Utah Association for the Deaf, The UAD Bulletin, each month or periodically as determined by the Board of Directors;

2. To use a computer to format and make up an attractive publication meeting the policy guidelines of the UAD and to secure appropriate software;

3. To recruit reporters, writers and contributors;

4. To set a deadline for copy and make it generally known;

5. To select a printer at reasonable cost and monitor quality;

6. To determine content and arrangement of material;

7. To scan national and regional publications for items that may be of interest to the deaf community of Utah;

8. To determine suitability of material for publication;

9. To edit, correct, condense and otherwise fit material into the Bulletin without changing the intent or meaning of the authors;

10. To accept appropriate advertisements and fees and to forward to the UAD treasurer promptly any such fees;

11. To care for and properly maintain UAD equipment, and to turn over to a new editor all such equipment whenever a change is made;

12. To assist in the training of a new editor if and when necessary;

13. To seek the advice or assistance from the UAD Bulletin committee or the editorial subcommittee as circumstances warrant;

14. To take a course in newsletter design and editing when available. 

7. The Editor: Compensation 
          The amount of time and work and personal or family office space used in the editing and publishing of The UAD Bulletin deserves and merits appropriate compensation. Therefore, the Editor shall be paid a monthly salary, plus reimbursement for the use of space, equipment and utilities that are lost to family use, to be determined annually, and negotiated mutually between the chairperson of the UAD Bulletin committee, the Editor, and the UAD Board. 
          The above considerations also apply to the Dispatcher, who shall be paid an appropriate monthly stipend plus a reasonable sum to draw against for supplies (labels, ink, etc.), for services provided in the printing, coding, affixing of labels and mailing of The UAD Bulletin. 
8. The Treasurer 
          The UAD Treasurer is responsible for receiving subscriptions and collecting fees, for accounting therefore in the regular UAD budget and for promptly informing the Dispatcher of changes of names and addresses. 
          The Treasurer is responsible for the payment of bills and invoices incurred by The UAD Bulletin editor in the normal course of business, such as postal fees, printing fees and supplies. 
9. The Dispatcher 
          The dispatcher is appointed by the UAD Bulletin committee on recommendation of the Editor, subject to approval by the Board of Directors. 
10. Bulletin Content 
          As listed in #6 above, the Editor generally is responsible for the content of The UAD Bulletin. However, the UAD Board may issue from time to time some specific instructions for the Editor with respect to content, or make changes in these guidelines. 
          Births. Birth announcements will be printed in a statistics column. 
          Obituaries. In general, obituaries will be listed for deaths in the immediate family only, such as a deaf person’s mother, father, wife, husband, brother or sister. If a picture is desired with the obituary, a charge will be made. Normally, obits will be printed in statistical form, such as those in the daily newspapers. When a notable deaf person, or hearing person well known to the deaf community (such as the superintendent of a school) dies, instead of a standard obituary the Editor may choose to run it as a news item. 
          “Legal” notices. Newspapers generally carry legal notices, many of which are published by the district court clerks. The UAD Bulletin editor has the responsibility to determine whether such a notice is appropriate for publication in a paper as limited in circulation as the Bulletin. The editor may consult with the Editorial committee when considering material of this nature when submitted for publication. If accepted for publication a charge will be imposed in accordance with Bulletin line or space rates, depending on size, with payment required in advance from the person submitting the material. 
          Special occasions. If boxed display ads are desired to announce weddings, or silver or golden anniversaries of deaf couples, regular advertising rates will apply. If a picture is desired, an extra charge will be made to cover the additional cost. In general, display ads to announce special occasions will be charged at regular advertising rates. 
          Confidentiality. The address lists of The UAD Bulletin are confidential and may not be released to, nor copied by, any individual, organization, business or other entity without the express knowledge of and the written permission of the UAD Board of Directors. Individuals authorized to work on or with the lists are the UAD Treasurer, the Editor, and the Dispatcher. 
          If at any time the dispatcher is replaced or resigns, software, disks, printed labels and any other material related to addresses must be turned over to the incoming dispatcher in the presence of the editor or the chairperson of the UAD Bulletin committee. 
          Area newspapers carry statistics columns in which are recorded births, deaths, marriages and divorces, and other matters such as convictions for a variety of offenses. The UAD Bulletin may determine whether publication of the name of a deaf person convicted in a court of law of a crime is of sufficient interest to the deaf community. The editor will be cautious also in considering the publication of the names of deaf people being divorced. 

Accepted by UAD Bulletin committee, date undetermined 

Appointment of the UAD Bulletin Editor 
          The UAD Bulletin Committee will recommend the name of a person to be editor for the Bulletin to the UAD Board of Directors, and the President shall make the appointment. The editor shall serve until resignation or replacement by the Board. 
          In the event the editor decides to resign, he or she shall give at least three (3) months notice to the Bulletin committee chairperson. This will give the committee time to search for a replacement. 
          Whenever the editor resigns or is replaced, he or she shall within five working days turn over all equipment, computers, software, files and other property belong to the Utah Association for the Deaf to the incoming editor or other properly authorized representative of the UAD. 
Accepted by UAD Bulletin committee, 10-23-99