Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The Journal staff takes home record number of awards at ICPA convention

Staff members of The Journal, the student newspaper at the University of Illinois at Springfield, received 12 awards at the 26th annual Illinois College Press Association convention, held February 20 and 21 at the Doubletree Hotel in Chicago.

Professional journalists and advertising professionals from throughout Illinois judged entries from more than 30 college newspapers across the state. Others schools that UIS competed against included Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, DePaul University, Loyola University, Columbia College, University of Chicago, Bradley University and Northeastern Illinois University.

Students from The Journal and Beyond, The Journal’s news and features magazine published once a semester, won awards in both the open division, which included daily and weekly student newspapers from Illinois, as well as the weekly division for student publications from universities and colleges with enrollments of 4,000 or more.

Three of The Journal’s awards came from the open division. Deborah Crandall took second place for an advertising design that included a graphic of a photo taken of the UIS Colonnade with well wishes for a good summer from Student Affairs. David Amerson’s review of a Springfield sports bar received third place, and Luke Runyon took an honorable mention for his review of a band.

In the weekly division, editor-in-chief Amanda Dahlquist and former Journal public affairs reporter Pete Nickeas won a first place award for their photo essay of pictures taken during Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s visit to Springfield during summer 2008. Luke Runyon also earned an honorable mention for his photo essay of the 2008 UIS Springfest.

Second place went to the Journal Editorial Board in the editorial competition for a piece in which they encouraged students to take seriously their right to vote for the UIS Student Government Association candidates and encouraged candidates to run for the SGA in order to make a difference at UIS.

David Clary also won a second place award for a sports photo he captured showing a UIS soccer player after a losing game.

Greta Myers took third place for a feature story about a couple dealing with Alzheimer’s disease, and Michael Omenazu received a third place award for a sports game story when he wrote about the first UIS women’s soccer team and its inaugural game.

Brittney Meyer received an honorable mention for a column on her first-person account of skydiving, and David Clary received an honorable mention for his column about UIS’ quest for NCAA status. An honorable mention also went to Robert Jackson for a sports feature story when he wrote about the impact of the fans on the game.

UIS student publications adviser Debra Chandler Landis noted, “I am very proud of the students and the honors they received. While Journal students typically win at least some awards each year in the ICPA contest, the 12 awards is a record number for us.”

For more information, contact Landis at 206-7717 or dland2@uis.edu or contact The Journal at journal@uis.edu.

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