Kent JMC has three national award winners in the Mark of Excellence competition sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Winners were announced in September at the national convention of SPJ in Tampa, Fla., which was attended by seven members of the Kent JMC student chapter.

The awards are for outstanding student journalism produced in 2002. The competition drew nearly 2,700 entries in 45 categories for print, radio, television and online journalism.

KSU national winners were:

• Andy Netzel, second place in the magazine non-fiction article category, for his piece on "The New Catholics" that appeared in The Burr magazine. Netzel is a former editor of the Daily Kent Stater.
• Rob Meyer, third place in the newspaper sports writing category, for his article, "The One," which appeared in the Daily Kent Stater. Meyer is a former sports editor of the Daily Kent Stater.
• The Burr Magazine, second place in the Best Student Magazine published more than once a year. Editors were Mark Cina and Mandy Jenkins. Prof. Ann Schierhorn is adviser to the Burr. The Burr may be found online at this address.

All three were first place winners in Region 4 competition last spring.

The seven members of the Kent State chapter attended the convention with funding provided by Undergraduate Student Senate, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Daily Kent Stater.

Students attended professional educational seminars on topics ranging from ethics to online media, specialty reporting and convergence. The conference also featured a tour of the converged facilities of the Tampa Tribune, Tampa Bay Online and Channel 5 (NBC) News.

Bruce Cadwaller, Region 4 SPJ Director and reporter for the Columbus Dispatch, reviews the portfolios of Kent state students Jessica Alaimo (left) and Kristy O'Hara at the 2003 national SPJ Convention in Tampa, Fla. Photo by Mandy Jenkins

Students attending were: Kristy O'Hara, Jessica Alaimo, Mandy Jenkins, Jacyln Youhana, Stephanie Smith, Krista Gesaman and Jason Gallagher.

Other Kent JMC students who placed in the spring Region 4 competition included:

• Youhana, 2nd place, general newspaper column writing; 3rd place, newpaper editorial writing; and 2nd place, feature writing.
• Netzel, 1st place, general news reporting.
• O'Hara, honorable mention, feature writing.
• Ben Fischer, 2nd place, magazine non-fiction article writing.
• Megan Battista, 3rd place, magazine non-fiction article writing.
• Angela Shaar, 2nd place, general news photography.
• Jenkins, honorable mention, radio feature.
• Mike Gardner, 2nd place, sports writing, and honorable mention, sports writing.
• Kurt Snyder, 3rd place, sports writing.

The complete list of Region 4 winners may be found at this address.

SPJ has been presenting the Mark of Excellence Awards since 1972.

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