SPJ announces 2011 Region 1 Mark of Excellence Winners

Home > SPJ News > SPJ announces 2011 Region 1 Mark of Excellence Winners

3/26/2012

For immediate release
3/26/2012

Contacts:
Lauren Rochester, SPJ Awards Coordinator, 317-927-8000 ext. 210, lrochester@spj.org
Abby Henkel, SPJ Communications Manager, 317-927-8000 ext. 215, ahenkel@spj.org

INDIANAPOLIS – The Society of Professional Journalists is pleased to announce the Region 1 Mark of Excellence Award winners for the 2011 calendar year. The Mark of Excellence Awards honor the best collegiate journalism in the U.S.

SPJ Region 1 includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Eastern and Central Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. This year, the contest received more than 4,000 entries across SPJ’s 12 regions.

The honorees were awarded certificates on March 24 during the Region 1 SPJ Spring Conference held at the Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, N.Y. First-place regional winners will advance to the national round of judging. National winners will be announced in late April.

The winners are listed below. For additional information on the Mark of Excellence awards, please contact Awards Coordinator Lauren Rochester at lrochester@spj.org.

REGION 1 WINNERS

Four-year colleges/universities

Breaking News Photography
• First Place: Paterno’s presser cancelled – by Chloe Elmer, Pennsylvania State University
• Second Place: Vigil for Joe Paterno – by Andy Colwell, Pennsylvania State University
• Third Place: No award*

Feature Photography
• First Place: Discipline – by Andy Colwell, Pennsylvania State University
• Second Place: Imagine peace – by Kenneth Ho, Stony Brook University
• Third Place: Four of a kind – by Keith Freeman, Rutgers University

General News Photography
• First Place: Remembering Shanksville – by Andy Colwell, Pennsylvania State University
• Second Place: Candlelight vigil – by Jill Hunt Knight, Pennsylvania State University
• Third Place: Shanksville dedication – by Kelley King, Pennsylvania State University

Photo Illustration
• First Place: Bench shot on the water – by Ayer Chan, Fordham University
• Second Place: We’ll continue. We always do. We always will. – by Nick Statt, Andi Liao, Najib Aminy and Vincent Barone, Stony Brook University
• Third Place: Brenton is back – by Ezra Margono, Stony Brook University

Sports Photography
• First Place: Rolled over – by Ramon Dompor, Rutgers University
• Second Place: Knights use UMBC to bounce back – by Keith Freeman, Rutgers University
• Third Place: Kearney continues diving through pain – by Keith Freeman, Rutgers University

Best Student Magazine
• First Place: Salt City Magazine, Syracuse University
• Second Place: Valley, Pennsylvania State University
• Third Place: No award*

Non-Fiction Magazine Article
• First Place: No dumping – by Juliana Hanle, Yale University
• Second Place: How to keep a promise – by Jacqueline Feldman, Yale University
• Third Place: The other murders – by Colin Ross, Yale University

Best All-Around Daily Student Newspaper
• First Place: The Daily Orange, Syracuse University
• Second Place: Yale Daily News, Yale University
• Third Place: The Harvard Crimson, Harvard University

Best All-Around Non-Daily Student Newspaper
• First Place: The Ithacan, Ithaca College
• Second Place: The Maine Campus, University of Maine
• Third Place: The Daily Free Press, Boston University

Breaking News Reporting
• First Place: Sandusky charged with sex abuse – by Anna Orso, Pennsylvania State University
• Second Place: Hacked by Codeine – by Brent Summers, University of Vermont
• Third Place: Investigation continues into fatal crash – by Nick Defiesta and James Lu, Yale University

Editorial Writing
• First Place: Lexi Belculfine and Jourdan Cole, Pennsylvania State University
• Second Place: Alex Klein and Andrew Squire, Yale University
• Third Place: Beckie Strum, Syracuse University

Feature Writing
• First Place: Yale and Peru – by Sarah Nutman, Yale University
• Second Place: No day but today – by Aaron Edwards, Ithaca College
• Third Place: Rhythmic roots – by Taylor Long, Ithaca College

General Column Writing
• First Place: Brittany Stoner, Pennsylvania State University
• Second Place: Colin Ross, Yale University
• Third Place: Reena Diamante, Rutgers University

General News Reporting
• First Place: Kirkland shooting trial – by Julie M. Zauzmer and Xi Yu, Harvard University
• Second Place: Philadelphia Housing Authority – by Christine Fisher, Temple University
• Third Place: Jon Huntsman enters GOP race – by Alex Klein, Yale University

In-Depth Reporting
• First Place: Mission drift? – by The Brown Daily Herald staff, Brown University
• Second Place: South Africa – by the Philadelphia Neighborhoods staff, Temple University
• Third Place: Unveiling the truth: Exploring the Fairfield University budget crisis – by Mikaela Tierney and Elizabeth Koubek, Fairfield University

Sports Column Writing
• First Place: Michael Cohen, Syracuse University
• Second Place: Robert S. Samuels, Harvard University
• Third Place: David Pavlak, Rider University

Sports Writing
• First Place: Brenton’s back – by Sam Kilb, Stony Brook University
• Second Place: At last, champions – by Dennis J. Zheng, Harvard University
• Third Place: Selling the shirts off their backs – Jake Kaplan, Pennsylvania State University

Best Affiliated Web Site
• First Place: The Daily Collegian Online (collegian.psu.edu), Pennsylvania State University
• Second Place: The Daily Pennsylvanian Online (thedp.com), University of Pennsylvania
• Third Place: The Ithacan Online (theithacan.org), Ithaca College

Best Independent Online Student Publication
• First Place: Philadelphia Neighborhoods Online (philadelphianeighborhoods.com),Temple University
• Second Place: Quad News (quadnews.net), Quinnipiac University
• Third Place: Scienceline (scienceline.org), New York University

Online Feature Reporting
• First Place: Verbal blend – by Noelia de la Cruz, Syracuse University
• Second Place: Engineering music – by Matthew Gerardi, Stony Brook University
• Third Place: Collecting kids – by Kelley King, Pennsylvania State University

Online In-Depth Reporting
• First Place: El Nuevo normal – the News21 Team, Syracuse University
• Second Place: Eco: NYC – by the NYCity News Service staff, CUNY
• Third Place: Distant relatives – by the NYCity News Service staff, CUNY

Online News Reporting
• First Place: Changing New York: Census 2010 – by the NYCity News Service staff, CUNY
• Second Place: Distant relatives – by the NYCity News Service staff, CUNY
• Third Place: Eco: NYC – by the NYCity News Service staff, CUNY

Online Opinion and Commentary
• First Place: Alex Klein, Yale University
• Second Place: No award*
• Third Place: No award*

Online Sports Reporting
• First Place: Scoop Jardine relies on family ties – by Ivory Hecker, Syracuse University
• Second Place: Roller derby – by Chole Elmer, Pennsylvania State University
• Third Place: The never-ending finish line – by Krista Myers, Pennsylvania State University

Editorial Cartooning
• First Place: Emmett Baggett, Syracuse University
• Second Place: No award*
• Third Place: No award*

Best All-Around Radio Newscast
• First Place: WRKC News at 5, King’s College
• Second Place: Newsline, Hofstra University
• Third Place: War News Radio, Swarthmore College

Radio Feature Reporting
• First Place: Tawakul Karman: Nobel Prize Winner from Yemen – by Assia Boundaoui, New York University
• Second Place: Wall Street puppets – by Rebecca Lee Douglas, CUNY
• Third Place: Arab American Comedy Festival – by Frans Koster, CUNY

Radio In-depth Reporting
• First Place: Dr. King honored – by Adrienne di Piazza, Pennsylvania State University
• Second Place: Drone wars – by Elliana Bisgaard-Church, Stuart Russell and Ankhi Thakurta, Swarthmore College
• Third Place: Ruth’s journey – Kelly Caloway, King’s College

Radio News Reporting
• First Place: WICB reports from Occupy Wall Street – by Peter Blanchard, Ithaca College
• Second Place: Undocumented migrant workers speak out – by Kristin Leffler and Peter Blanchard, Ithaca College
• Third Place: No gun alert – by Jordan Pruett, Pennsylvania State University

Radio Sports Reporting
• First Place: Oh and one – by Paul Ofcharsky, King’s College
• Second Place: Women’s volleyball journey – by Marco Ranzi, Pennsylvania State University
• Third Place: 61 is 50: Remembering Roger – by Kyle Kesses, Fordham University

Best All-Around Television Newscast
• First Place: The Centre County Report, Pennsylvania State University
• Second Place: News 7 @ 5:30, Lyndon State College
• Third Place: Newswatch 16, Ithaca College

Television Feature Reporting
• First Place: Performing arts in South Africa – by Christopher Hush, Pennsylvania State University
• Second Place: Millennials and dating – by Heidi Kloster and Samantha Hatfield, Pennsylvania State University
• Third Place: The old men of the mountain – by Anne Richards, Pennsylvania State University

Television In-depth Reporting
• First Place: WEBN’s Inside the Grapefruit League 2011 – by Ryan Pfleiderer, Ben Barker and Megan Gregg, Emerson College
• Second Place: No award*
• Third Place: No award*

Television General News Reporting
• First Place: The Social Host Project: an in-depth look at Long Island's Social Host Law – by Lauren Cioffi, Stony Brook University
• Second Place: Student unrest – by Rachel Polansky, Pennsylvania State University
• Third Place: THON money – by Dan Yesenosky, Pennsylvania State University

Television Breaking News Reporting
• First Place: I-99 fatal accident – by James Gherardi, Pennsylvania State University
• Second Place: No award*
• Third Place: No award*

Television Feature Photography
• First Place: Vermont’s education transformation teaser – by the Our American Journey staff, Norwich University
• Second Place: The old men of the mountain – by Anne Richards and Dan Hamilton, Pennsylvania State University
• Third Place: Kingdom Trails – by Caleb Noble and Jack Carney, Lyndon State College

Television News Photography
• First Place: Vermonster – by Caleb Noble and Rene Thibault, Lyndon State College
• Second Place: No award*
• Third Place: No award*

Television Sports Reporting
• First Place: PSU Ice Rink – by Ashley Hinson, Pennsylvania State University
• Second Place: Coaching through life – by Lauren Reid, Jennifer Studer and Christine Newby, Pennsylvania State University
• Third Place: Groundskeepers at spring training – by Ryan Pfleiderer, Emerson College

Television Sports Photography
• First Place: Super Joe – by Michael Woodward and Jack Carney, Lyndon State College
• Second Place: Football practice – by Caleb Noble and Jack Carney, Lyndon State College
• Third Place: No award*

Two-year/community colleges

Best All-Around Non-Daily Student Newspaper
• First Place: The Bergen Torch, Bergen Community College
• Second Place: Outlook Student Press, SUNY Rockland Community College
• Third Place: The College VOICE, Mercer County Community College

Breaking News Reporting
• First Place: Accreditor Warns College – by Perpetua Romain, Bergen Community College
• Second Place: Death doesn’t discriminate: “Jackass” Dunn dead – by Paul Eberle, Community College of Philadelphia
• Third Place: No award*

General News Reporting
• First Place: Tuition rises for Fall 2012 semester – by Rebecca Gross, SUNY Rockland Community College
• Second Place: What are the school colors? – by Bob Stewart, Community College of Philadelphia
• Third Place: Vincenzo Campo says his swastika is a symbol of peace; his peers don’t see it that way – by Anna Bosted, Mercer County Community College

In-Depth Reporting
• First Place: Prescription drug abuse – by Daniela Rocha, Mercer County Community College
• Second Place: Gym floor mystery solved – by Justin Clarke, Community College of Philadelphia
• Third Place: “Just fracking for gas in PA” and “To frack, or not to frack?” – by Paul Eberle, Community College of Philadelphia

Editorial Writing
• First Place: Perpetua Romain, Ben DeBrasi and Alyson Ann Cina, Bergen Community College
• Second Place: No award*
• Third Place: No award*

General Column Writing
• First Place: Alyson Ann Cina, Bergen Community College
• Second Place: Ken Napier, Mercer County Community College
• Third Place: No award*

Sports Column Writing
• First Place: Paul Eberle, Community College of Philadelphia
• Second Place: No award*
• Third Place: No award*

Feature Writing
• First Place: Soccer star Irene Calabria learned to play with the boys – by Stephen Harrison, Mercer County Community College
• Second Place: Rockland County ghosts and haunts – by Anna Berent, SUNY Rockland Community College
• Third Place: No award*

General News Photography
• First Place: Restaurant 230 – by Jason Pomerantz, Mercer County Community College
• Second Place: No award*
• Third Place: No award*

Sports Photography
• First Place: Trenton Steel look to catch Erie Explosion – by Val DaGrain, Mercer County Community College
• Second Place: No award*
• Third Place: No award*

Photo Illustration
• First Place: American History accompanying photos – by Paul Eberle, Community College of Philadelphia
• Second Place: No award*
• Third Place: No award*

Sports Writing
• First Place: Blueprint for success – by Paul Eberle, Community College of Philadelphia
• Second Place: Gold standard – by Paul Eberle, Community College of Philadelphia
• Third Place: CCP men’s basketball champs – by Bob Stewart, Community College of Philadelphia

* Mark of Excellence Awards honor the best in student journalism. Judges are not required to select first, second or third place winners.

Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists; and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press. For more information about SPJ, please visit www.spj.org.

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