Tossed clips

As a former reporter, I should have known better than to throw them out.
I used to have a box of old newspapers -- just the news sections.
They were often the compilation of years' worth of work. I'd write a story, bring home a copy of the paper it was published in, and drop it in the box. Occasionally, I'd go through and cut the stories out for either a job interview, or an upcoming writing competition.
Those clips disappeared when I joined the army, so now I am reduced to finding my own clips on the Internet. What shows up in a search, however, is often different than what I would look for.
This morning, I applied to a prominent university seeking a PR representative. I had to send a PDF of a waste treatment plant that was behind schedule and over budget. I wrote it about two and a half years ago -- a lifetime as news stories go. My other options were two stories from more than three years ago -- one about a medical center opening (yawn) and the other about tombstone vandalism.