To our members and valued readers,

Arthur Newspaper’s Board of Directors and Volume 54 Co-Editors would like to offer the following updates regarding operations and procedures regarding COVID-19:

Printing and Office Closure

We have made the difficult but most community-minded decision to suspend printing of Arthur Newspaper effective immediately through to the end of the 2019-2020 printing schedule as indicated on TrentArthur.ca. As the Sadleir House facility has also closed to the public, in-person office hours are also suspended for the rest of the academic year. We value the safety of our staff, volunteers, and readers above all else. We encourage you to practice social distancing techniques and strong personal hygiene, and to self-isolate as much as possible. We commend Trent University for its efforts to “flatten the curve” by temporarily closing its buildings while also being mindful of the student population that is unable to return home at this time.

Just because the newspaper stops printing does not mean that news stops happening. Indeed, we can see that the news needs to move as quickly and as accurately as possible to ensure that the public can make informed decisions. That is why the Co-Editors will continue to oversee publication on TrentArthur.ca, and will continue to share up-to-date information on our social media channels. Please like and follow Facebook.com/ArthurNews, Instagram.com/TrentArthurNews, and Twitter.com/TrentArthur.

Emails to editors@trentarthur.ca will be monitored from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern standard time on weekdays, and by chance on weekends. We have been facing issues with the office phone, and are still in the process of resolving the issue. For the time being all inquiries will be addressed via email.

Advertising

If you purchased advertising space for Issues 21, 22, 23, or 24 of Volume 54, please contact advertising@trentarthur.ca so that your invoice can be recalled, or that your request can be adapted to be placed on TrentArthur.ca for a period of time.

Spring Elections

The Spring Elections for the Volume 55 Editorship and the Staff Collective Members of the Board of Directors were scheduled to be on Sunday March 29, 2020 at Sadleir House in the Lecture Hall from 12 to 2 p.m. In light of the current situation, we will be introducing the following procedures:

• All submissions to editors@trentarthur.ca by the weekly deadline of Saturdays at 11:59 p.m. will be considered for publication on the Wednesday following, and counted as a virtual “issue”. Please see the tags on TrentArthur.ca to indicate which issue a piece has been published in.

• Staff Collective members will be published on TrentArthur.ca/About, and emailed regarding their Staff Collective status. Those who must contribute two or fewer issues before the Elections period will also be notified of their near-Staff Collective status.

• Candidate platforms for the Volume 55 Editorship will be posted to TrentArthur.ca at midnight on Wednesday, March 18, as per the printing schedule.

• Candidate platforms for the Staff Collective Board of Directors positions will be posted at midnight on Wednesday, March 25, as per the printing schedule.

• All Staff Collective members will be emailed a ballot to vote for their choice of one (1) Editorship candidate, and up to three (3) Staff Collective Board of Directors candidates.

• Voting will be open from Wednesday, March 25 at midnight to Sunday, March 29 at 11:59 p.m.

• The Volume 55 Editorship and new members of the Board of Directors will be ratified and announced on Wednesday, April 1 at midnight on TrentArthur.ca.