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Home   Resources   Style Guides   Writing Guides   Editorial Style Guide   S

Editorial Style Guide

S

Saint (St.)

Abbreviate with place names and saints, such as St. Louis, St. Matthew, St. Mary’s University. For personal names, follow the individual᾿s preference:

Camille Saint-Saens, Jill St. John

San Antonio City Council

The city council or the council on second reference.

San Antonio Military Medical Center

Formerly Brooke Army Medical Center. The name changed in 2011.

San Pedro I

Home of the School of Data Science and National Security Collaboration Center. Use the Roman numeral I in text.

Schedule of Classes

school districts

There are 17 school districts within Bexar County:

  • Alamo Heights Independent School District
  • East Central Independent School District
  • Edgewood Independent School District
  • Fort Sam Houston Independent School District (military)
  • Harlandale Independent School District
  • Judson Independent School District
  • Lackland Independent School District (military)
  • Medina Valley Independent School District
  • North East Independent School District
  • Northside Independent School District
  • Randolph Independent School District (military)
  • San Antonio Independent School District
  • Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School District
  • Somerset Independent School District
  • South San Antonio Independent School District
  • Southside Independent School District
  • Southwest Independent School District

Seal of Excelencia

A comprehensive certification awarded by Excelencia in Education to recognize colleges and universities across the nation that have a commitment and ability to accelerate Latino student success.

The word Excelencia is italicized in copy when either the Seal of Excelencia or Excelencia in Education are referenced.

seasons

Lowercase the names of seasons unless they are part of a formal name or designate an issue of a periodical: 

Winter Olympic Games
It is in the Fall 2020 issue of Sombrilla Magazine.
He graduated in the fall semester.
The doctoral program in anthropology began in spring 2007.

SeaWorld San Antonio

semester

Lowercase references to semesters:

the spring 2002 semester

semicolon

See commas.

Sept. 11, 2001

Use on first reference. Second reference is 9/11

Six Flags Fiesta Texas

Referred to as Fiesta Texas on second reference.

smartphone

Social Security number

If it needs to be abbreviated, use SSN.

South Texas

Use Texas instead, when referring to UTSA’s service area

Southwest, southwestern

Capitalize southwest when used as part of a proper name or to designate a region. But in general, the preferred form is to lowercase compass points only when they describe a section of the state or city (per AP).

The storm system developed in the Southwest.
The scholarship is for students from southwestern Texas.

Southwest School of Art

spaces

Use one space, not two, at the end of every sentence. Use one space after a colon.

Spanish words

Italicize on first reference only, unless the word is in common usage for your publication’s audience. See also foreign words and phrases.

spelling

When there is more than one acceptable way to spell a word, refer to Merriam-Webster. The first word listed is the preferred spelling.

Spring Break

states

Spell out the names of the 50 states when they stand alone in text and when used in conjunction with the name of a city, county, town, village or military base. The names of eight states are never abbreviated: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah. (AP style change in May 2014)

When state abbreviations are needed for graphics, etc.:

  • AK
  • Ala. or AL
  • Ariz. or AZ
  • Ark. or AR
  • Calif. or CA
  • Colo. or CO
  • Conn. or CT
  • D.C. or DC
  • Del. or DE
  • Fla. or FL
  • Ga. or GA
  • HI
  • ID
  • Ill. or IL
  • Ind. or IN
  • IA
  • Kan. or KS
  • Ky. or KY
  • La. or LA
  • ME
  • Md. or MD
  • Mass. or MA
  • Mich. or MI
  • Minn. or MN
  • Miss. or MS
  • Mo. or MO
  • Mont. or MT
  • Neb. or NE
  • Nev. or NV
  • N.H. or NH
  • N.J. or NJ
  • N.M. or NM
  • N.Y. or NY
  • N.C. or NC
  • N.D. or ND
  • OH
  • Okla. or OK
  • Ore. or OR
  • Pa. or PA
  • R.I. or RI
  • S.C. or SC
  • S.D. or SD
  • Tenn. or TN
  • TX
  • UT
  • Vt. or VT
  • Va. or VA
  • Wash. or WA
  • W.Va. or WV
  • Wis. or WI
  • Wyo. or WY

NOTE: Texas normally is not added to city names in publications, however, because UTSA publications have an international audience, including the state is allowed.

Students from El Paso, Texas, can qualify for the scholarship.

Place a comma between the city and the state name and another comma after the state name, unless ending a sentence:

She was born in Nashville, Tennessee.
She graduated from a school in Texas.
She now lives in Austin, Texas, but is moving to Florida.

NOTE: For web copy, always spell out the name of the state.

street names

Use abbreviations such as St., Rd. and Blvd. when possible, particularly when a street name is attached to a numerical address, per AP Style.

Commonly misspelled San Antonio roads are:

  • Jones Maltsberger Road
  • Binz-Engleman Road
  • Jackson-Keller Road
  • De Zavala Road

For guidance on whether the proper name is a street, road, avenue or other, refer to the most current edition of Google Maps.

syllabus, syllabi

Syllabi is plural

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