RICHARDSON, Texas (April 11, 2005) — Staff members of The UTD Mercury, the student-run newspaper at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), won 27 awards -- including four first-place honors -- for journalistic excellence over the weekend in Dallas at the 97th 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 24 individual awards for material published during the 2004 calendar year, The Mercury finished second in Best Of Show 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. In addition, Mercury staffers Cristen Perkowski and Tina Sansevero won third-place honors in live competitions for newspaper design and magazine design, respectively.
Awards presented at the conference to members of The Mercury staff and contributors included:
- First place, special section, Cristen Perkowski, summer 2004 editor
- First place, general column, Aidan Skoyles, advertising manager
- First place, sports column, Richard Voit, former sports editor
- First place, information graphic, Jeani Vichayanonda
- Second Place, sports action photo, Josh Crowder, graphics editor
- Second Place, general column, Chad Eggspuehler, editor
- Second Place, headline, Chad Eggspuehler, editor
- Second Place, opinion page design, Chad Eggspuehler, editor
- Second Place, news story, Cristen Perkowski, managing editor
- Second Place, news photo, Aidan Skoyles, advertising manager
- Second Place, photo illustration, Jeani Vichayanonda
- Second Place, sports news story, Richard Voit, former sports editor
- Second Place, feature story, Richard Voit, former sports editor
- Third place, overall newspaper, Mercury Staff
- Third Place, editorial cartoon, Luke McKenzie, webmaster
- Third Place, illustration, Siby Spurgeon
- Third Place, feature page design, Jeani Vichayanonda
- Third Place, sports page design, Richard Voit, former sports editor
- Third Place, in-depth news story, Lauren Winter
- Honorable mention, feature photo, Josh Crowder, graphics editor
- Honorable mention, news feature story, Kevin Hageland
- Honorable mention, ad design, Cheng Lee
- Honorable mention, Page 1 design, Cristen Perkowski, managing editor
- Honorable mention, ad design, Aidan Skoyles, advertising manager
Thirteen 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, who was elected to a two-year term as secretary of the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association during the convention.
The UTD Mercury, which is celebrating its 25 th year in 2005, 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 14,000 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.
