Student Publications Take Top Awards At NSU Competition
(Press Release 04-07-08)
Hank Mooney, Office of Public Information

Student publications at Eastern Oklahoma State College swept top state awards at newspaper and yearbook competition at Northeastern State University last week .

The “Statesman” newspaper and “Mountaineer” yearbook staffs at Eastern Oklahoma State College brought home 28 awards from the 38th Annual Northeastern State University Media Day held April 3 on the Tahlequah campus. The two publications were also awarded “Overall Excellence in Newspapers” and “Overall Excellence in Yearbooks,” the top prizes at the competition.

“I am very proud of our achievement,” said Kristen Turner, Journalism Instructor and “Statesman” and “Mountaineer” adviser. “These two publications are student-produced and I am very happy that all of the long hours and extra effort has been rewarded.”

According to Eastern’s Public Information Director, Hank Mooney, Eastern’s publications have traditionally done very well at this competition in the over 30 years that the school has participated.

At the competition, Eastern’s entries were judged against several other Oklahoma two-year colleges in several different categories. The newspaper categories were based on issues submitted from the 2007-08 school year. The yearbook categories were based on a combination of the 2007 and the 2008 editions.

In all, the publications brought home 18 first place awards. At the competition, Danel Walker, Panola, won first place for On-Site Digital Photography and Ryan DeGiacomo, McAlester, won second place for On-Site Features Writing.

“We are continuing Eastern’s long-standing tradition of excellence in publications and I am honored to work with these uniquely talented students,” Turner said.

Individual and publication awards included:
First place, Overall Excellence in Newspapers
First place, Overall Excellence in Yearbooks
First place, News Writing, Samantha Miller, Wilburton
First place, Column Writing, Liz Vaughn, McAlester
First Place, Inside Page Design, Brookee Durossette, Porum
First Place, On-Site Digital Photography, Danel Walker, Panola
First Place, Photography, Jana (Chancellor) White, Talihina
First Place, Photography, Jason Strickland, McAlester
First Place, Newspaper Reviews, Jedd Pickens, Haileyville
First Place, Photography, Danel Walker, Panola
First Place, Illustration, Heather Archer, Poteau
First Place, Yearbook Page Design, Danel Walker, Panola
First Place, Yearbook Division Page Design, Danel Walker, Panola
First Place, Yearbook Title Page Design, Danel Walker, Panola
First Place, Yearbook Spread Design, Danel Walker, Panola
First Place, Yearbook Copy Writing, Aaron Hanzel, McAlester
First Place, Yearbook Cover Design, Jana (Chancellor) White, Talihina and Danel Walker, Panola
First Place, Yearbook Headline Writing Design, Brookee Durossette, Porum
First Place, Yearbook Theme, Jana (Chancellor) White, Talihina and Danel Walker, Panola
Second Place, On-Site Features Writing, Ryan DeGiacomo, McAlester
Second Place, Newspaper Reviews, Melissa Standridge, McAlester
Second Place, Column Writing, Samantha Miller, Wilburton
Second Place, Yearbook Spread Design, Brookee Durossette, Porum
Third Place, Photography, Jason Strickland, McAlester
Third place, Feature Writing, Krystal Baker, McAlester
Honorable Mention, Jason Strickland, McAlester
Honorable Mention, Photography, Danel Walker, Panola
Honorable Mention, Front Page Design, Samantha Miller, Wilburton

Caption info Eastern student publications staff members show off their awards won April 3 at the 38th Annual Northeastern State University Media Day in Tahlequah. Pictured, front row from left: Naomi Miller, McAlester; Krystal Baker, McAlester; Brookee Durossette, Porum; Melissa Standridge, McAlester and Patsy Robertson, Stigler. Back row: Danel Walker, Panola; Bryan Stubbs, McAlester; Bryan DeGiacomo, McAlester; Joseph Tyson, Clayton and Jedd Pickens, Haileyville. The "Statesman" newspaper and "Mountaineer" yearbook received 28 awards at this year’s competition including the top awards for newspaper and yearbook.