Student publications bring home awards
The campus yearbook, The Bluebonnet, and newspaper, The Bells, earned 59 awards at the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Convention in College Station April 3-5.
Along with Sweepstakes and Overall Excellence in Division 5, The Bells won all first place awards in sports writing and page design. Additionally, staff members took two of the three first place news writing awards and received honorable mention for its online edition of the newspaper.
Twenty-four awards were given for previously published entries from the spring and fall of 2007. Winners included: first place for News Story and Opinion-Editorial Page Design to Chelsea Schilling, News Feature Story to Sara Barnes, Critical Review to Ben Rhudy, Single Subject Presentation and Feature Page Design to Jena Coulson, Sports Column to Denise Marcos, Sports News Story to Nicholas Jones, Sports Feature Story to Denise Marcos, Feature Photo to Jennifer Meers, Page One Design to Jessa Grassi and Photo Illustration to Sarah-Jane Sanders, last year’s editor-in-chief.
The Bells staff also received second place awards for General Column, Feature Story, Special Edition/Section, News Photo, Newspaper Picture Story and Information Graphic. Third place awards were picked up for In-Depth Reporting and Sports Page Design. Honorable mention was given for Sports Action Photo and Non-photo Illustration.
Judges said the newspaper’s content was made of “crisp, organized, well-developed stories and information. The focus of the publication is the school, students and community.”
TIPA was founded by students in 1909 at Baylor University with the purposes of improving collegiate journalism, raising standards of college publications and bringing colleges and editors into a closer and more vital relationship, according to a May 1909 newspaper article. The association provides contests in general magazine, radio, television, online, two divisions of yearbook, literary magazine and five divisions of newspaper. Additionally, at the yearly convention, 25 or more contests are available on-site for competition.
Competing against schools such as the University of Texas at Austin, Texas Tech and Texas A&M, The Bells staff brought home seven honors in the live contests. Awards went to the following: first place for Feature Writing to Crystal Donahue, second for Critical Review to Ben Rhudy, second for Best of Show to all staff, third for Editorial Cartoon to Janell Trece, third for Radio Advertising to Brittany Tice, third for Print Advertising to Jena Coulson and honorable mention for Headline Writing to Chelsea Schilling.
The school’s yearbook, The Bluebonnet, also received many awards in Division 2, including first in Overall Excellence. Individual first-place awards went to the following: Photo Essay, Opening Story Package and Opening Section Copy to Jennifer Meers; Feature/Student Life Package to Janie Wayland, Kristine Endsley, Megan Moore and Sarah-Jane Sanders; Photo Story to Taylor Davis; Sports Copy to Nicholas Jones Academics Package to Janie Wayland and Nathan Nipp. Additionally, the team of Jones, Endsley and Blizzard took first place in Sports Story Package.
The Bluebonnet also received second place awards in Sports Feature Photo, Organizations Copy, Academics Copy, Class Page/People Page, Organizations Story Package and Cover Design and one third-place award for Color Feature Photo. The yearbook took honorable mention in Feature Photo, Sports Feature Photo, Feature/Student Life Package and Student Life Copy.