On December 5, 1913 the Executive Committee of the Associated Student Body of Throop Polytechnic University passed the first amendment to its newly rewritten Constitution that decreed, “the students shall publish a college magazine to be called ‘The Throop Tech.’” 89 years later, this student publication still exists, and is the only weekly newspaper distributed throughout the Caltech campus.

The fact that the Tech was established through an amendment is indicative of a long tradition of close relationships between student government and student publications. Created the same year as the Board of Control, the independent student voice of the Tech has been as essential to student self-governance at Caltech as any other part of the student government.

In 1917, the student body elected the third different editor of the California Tech, Frank Capra, who also served as the student body secretary that year. Following this invaluable experience, Mr. Capra went on to direct some classic American movies, including “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” Capra’s three Academy Awards are still a record among Tech alumni, but perhaps another Tech Editor will challenge that mark one day.

In 1919, the “Editor of the Annual” was listed as an elected student body position. At that time, the yearbook was known as “Orange and White,” but in 1921, after Throop Polytechnic changed its name to Caltech, the yearbook was renamed the “Big T.” Ten years later, a conflict involving the Big T precipitated a major event for the Associated Student Body.

In May of 1934, the Associated Student Body (ASB) was sued by Mitchell & Herb, the printers of the 1932 Big T. To get a lower price, the business manager of the 1932 Big T had signed a two-year contract with the publishers. However, when a new business manager took over in 1933, he found the contract to be unsatisfactory and printed with another company. Mitchell & Herb then sued the ASB for $3,000 for breach of contract. Luckily, one student had a father who was a lawyer, and the suit was settled out of court for a much smaller amount. The lawyer suggested that the Associated Students become a corporation in order to protect individual students from liability in the case of another lawsuit. When the ASB was not incorporated, the courts could have ordered all students to pay out of their own pockets. However, with corporation status, the judgment would be limited to the assets of the corporation. In May of 1934, the Associated Student Body (ASB) was sued by Mitchell & Herb, the printers of the 1932 Big T. To get a lower price, the business manager of the 1932 Big T had signed a two-year contract with the publishers. However, when a new business manager took over in 1933, he found the contract to be unsatisfactory and printed with another company. Mitchell & Herb then sued the ASB for $3,000 for breach of contract. Luckily, one student had a father who was a lawyer, and the suit was settled out of court for a much smaller amount. The lawyer suggested that the Associated Students become a corporation in order to protect individual students from liability in the case of another lawsuit. When the ASB was not incorporated, the courts could have ordered all students to pay out of their own pockets. However, with corporation status, the judgment would be limited to the assets of the corporation. The ASB officers completed a thorough revision of the Constitution and submitted Articles of Incorporation to the State of California. On January 24, 1935, the Associated Student Body became the Associated Students of the California Institute of Technology, Incorporated.

With this newfound legal status, the Associated Students adopted another publication. A student handbook, which had been published yearly by the Caltech YMCA, came under the control of the Associated Students. As a companion to the yearbook, the student handbook was named the little t. Unlike the other publications offices, the editor and business manager of the little t became appointed positions, as they were not originally part of the student government.

In 1957, creating an outlet for students’ creative writing, ASCIT took on a fourth publication: A literary magazine known as the Totem. In 1973, before there was any systematic method for evaluating undergraduate teaching at Caltech, ASCIT’s Educational Policies Committee began publishing a Teaching Quality Feedback Report (TQFR). In 1981, this was renamed the Course Listings for Undergraduate Education (CLUE), and is still being published annually today, evaluating the quality of all course offerings at Caltech.

The CLUE actually doesn’t exist anymore in paper form, and neither does the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Handbook (UROH), first published in the 80’s. The CLUE and the UROH now exist only in online form as part of the newest ASCIT publication, donut.caltech.edu. The donut website is now the platform for online voting, club registration, and e-mail communications for the undergraduate student body. It is the latest example of how student publications and student government at Caltech have a long common history.