STUDENT WINS NATIONAL AWARD: Newspaper receives First in state
A member of the Illinois Valley Community College student newspaper staff has won a national award, and the newspaper and individual staff members have won a number of awards in two state competitions.
In national competition, Dave Msseemmaa of LaSalle received a Gold Circle Award Certificate of Merit from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association for a personal opinion column he wrote in spring 2001 for the IV Leader.
He won in competition with students at colleges and universities across the country. Of the more than 200 awards the CSPA presented, only three went to community college students.
Msseemmaa also received a Best News Photograph Award from the American Scholastic Press Association for a photo of the Shippingsport Bridge.
Msseemmaa, who was the managing editor of the IVCC newspaper last year, is currently studying at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.
At the state level, the IV Leader, formerly the Apache, was chosen as the First Place Winner for Graphic Design in the 2002 Southern Illinois University School of Journalism Community College Newspaper Awards. In the SIU competition, the IVCC newspaper also tied for First Place in the Photography category and was selected Second Place for Overall Excellence.
The SIU competition was based on a evaluation of three issues of the newspaper published in spring and fall 2001.
In another state competition, the IVCC newspaper earned a First Place in Overall Excellence, a Second Place in Merit and staff members received 13 individual awards.
In the competition, hosted by the Illinois Community College Journalism Association, the Overall Excellence Award is based on an evaluation of three issues of the newspaper. The IV Leader tied with the Harbinger published at Illinois Central College and the Valley Forge published at Rock Valley College.
For the Merit Award, based on individual awards won by staff member, the IV Leader tied with the ICC Harbinger and the Blazer published at Joliet Junior College.
In individual awards, First Place was won by:
- Billy Cruz of Spring Valley in sports news for a baseball story.
- Jamie Annel of Spring Valley, Beth Kalisiak of Ottawa and Cassie Pratt of Arlington for a feature about an instructor's experiences in Guatemala.
- Nick Tintori and Micah Riordan, both of Streator, in arts for a movie review.
- Jim Morris of Ottawa in arts for a music review.
Second Place awards went to
- Nate Bloomquist of Peru in news for a story about campus renovations.
- The editorial staff for layout.
Third Place awards went to
- Marla Buchanan of Earlville in opinion for a column.
- Manuel Garcia Sanchez of Streator and Brooke Fisher of Princeton for an editorial.
- Cruz in sports news for a basketball story.
- Msseemmaa for a feature about the Apache mascot.
- Marc Znaniecki of Peru for a photo
- Bloomquist and Msseemmaa for a computer-generated cartoon.
- Aaron Coley of Streator for a freehand cartoon.
The editorial staff for 2001-2002 included: Co-editors, Fisher and Sanchez; opinion page editor, Buchanan; arts and entertainment editor, Kalisiak; sports editor, Maria Borri; assistant sports editor, Cruz; photo editor, Jessica Coppes; page editors, Karl Ribas and Znaniecki.
The ICCJA awards were presented at the annual conference held at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills April 14 - 15. The competition covered issues published between March 2001 and February 2002.
Since 1986, the IVCC newspaper has placed either first or second in the ICCJA competition.
The newspaper is advised by Dr. Rose Marie Lynch, who is retiring at the end of the semester.