The UTD Mercury Wins Nine Awards
At College Journalism Conference

RICHARDSON, Texas (April 6, 2004) — Staff members of The UTD Mercury, the student-run newspaper at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), won nine awards – including four first-place honors -- for journalistic excellence over the weekend in Austin at the 96th annual conference of the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association (TIPA), the oldest and largest press association of its kind in the United States.

In addition to the individual awards, which were for material published during the 2003 calendar year, The Mercury finished fourth overall among the 16 school newspapers competing in its division, which is made up of colleges and universities in Texas with enrollments of more than 10,000 and that publish newspapers less than four times per week.

Awards presented at the conference to members of The Mercury staff and contributors included:

• First place, Feature Page Design, Walter Voit, former managing editor
• First place, Humor Column, Walter Voit
• First place, Sports Column, John Murrey, former sports editor
• First place, Information Graphic, Wendell Reynolds, contributor
• Second Place, Sports Page Design, Gabby Martinez, former sports editor
• Third place, Picture Page Design, Walter Voit
• Third Place, Single Ad Design, Cheng Lee, contributor
• Honorable mention, Illustration, Wendell Reynolds, contributor
• Honorable mention, Opinion Page Design, Debbie Edwards, former editor

Four members of the newspaper staff attended the conference, at which the students also were given presentations by leading professional journalists.

“We are proud of all of our staffers for their hard work and dedication in publishing an award-winning student newspaper for the UTD community,” said student media advisor Jay Miller.

The UTD Mercury is published on Mondays at two-week intervals during the school year, except holidays and exam periods, and once every three weeks during the summer. The newspaper is available online at www.utdmercury.com.

Established in 1909, TIPA works to open channels of communication and cooperation among student media programs at two and four-year colleges and universities in Texas. Some of those media include student newspapers, newsletters, yearbooks, magazines and radio and television stations.

About UTD

The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor®, enrolls more than 13,700 students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the university’s Web site at www.utdallas.edu.