SFA student journalists win state awards
April 15, 2009
Stephen F. Austin State University's Stone Fort yearbook earned honorable mention in Overall Excellence, and more than 25 SFA student journalists won various awards during the recent spring conference of the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association.
TIPA celebrated its 100th anniversary at the annual conference, held this year in Dallas. More than 600 student journalists and advisers from more than 50 Texas colleges and universities participated in the event. TIPA is the oldest collegiate press association in the nation and has grown into one of the largest and most respected collegiate groups in the country.
Awards were presented to students who participated in on-site competitions in categories related to newspapers, yearbooks, magazines, on-line publications, radio and television. In addition, students won awards for previously submitted material produced during the spring and fall 2008 semesters.
"TIPA was a great opportunity for us to network and meet professionals and other college students interested in the journalism field," said Pine Log Editor Tara Powdrill, a senior communication major from Kilgore. "The seminars were very informative and gave us insight from professionals about resumes, job searching, printing, photography, public relations and more. We represented SFA well in the competitions and brought back some outstanding awards."
The Stone Fort, SFA's yearbook, received honorable mention among yearbooks in Division I, composed of schools with enrollment of 7,000 or more. Katie Blevins, coordinator of student publications, is adviser to the Stone Fort.
The Pine Log, SFA's twice-weekly campus newspaper, competed in Division II, consisting of schools with enrollment of 7,000 or more that produce weekly or semi-weekly newspapers.
In on-site competition, Cody Derouen, The Pine Log's photo editor, won first place in the sports photo category and honorable mention, with photographer Thomas Motyka, in the two-person photo essay competition. Judith Barroeta, Stone Fort editor, won second place in yearbook design and third place in magazine design.
In on-site competitions, students compete with peers from other state colleges and universities, without regard to the size of their institutions.
Also at the conference, Pat Spence, director of student publications, was named TIPA Adviser of the Year for 2009. Spence also won the award in 1990 and 2003, making her the only student publications adviser in the organization's history to have won the statewide award three times.
SFA students who won awards for previously submitted work in the newspaper categories were: Cody Derouen, first place, sports action photo; Jill Quarles, first place, general column; Kristin Zoller, first place, news feature story and third place, page one design; Ryan C. Perry, second place, news story; Pine Log staff, Communication 309 class and Summer Stuart, third place, special edition; Justin Elbert, honorable mention, news photo; Marie Leonard, honorable mention, feature story; and Mark Rhoudes, honorable mention, best use of multimedia.
In the yearbook categories, the following SFA students won awards: Justin Elbert and Veronica Ivy, first place, opening package; Jose Lebron, first place, opening section copy; Michael Cavasos, second place, sports action photo; Lance White, second place, opening section copy; Thomas Motyka and Judith Barroeta, honorable mention, photo essay; Cody Derouen and Judith Barroeta, honorable mention, opening package; Sydney Davis and Melissa Jupp, honorable mention, organizations package; Ryan C. Perry, honorable mention, sports story package; Cody Derouen and Jamal Smith, honorable mention, photo story; Nathan Hague, honorable mention, sports copy; and Kristin Zoller, organizations copy. In addition, Justin Elbert won second place, feature photo; third place, sports feature photo and color feature photo; and honorable mention, feature photo, opening package, organizations package, and, along with the staff, cover design.
In the television categories, James Rocket won second place in the public affairs program category, and Shaun Church and Emily Brown won honorable mention for overall newscast. Stephen Dowd earned an honorable mention in the radio commercial/PSA/promo category.