Student newspaper wins awards

The Eagle garnered 17 points, finishing a close second to Wayne State's, The Wayne Stater, which earned 19 points. The Doane Owl, Doane College, with campuses in Crete, Grand Island and Lincoln, finished third with 10 points.

In the individual competition, The Eagle staff members won four categories, took second-place in two categories and placed third in another.

"It's great that we finished second against a high-quality paper like The Wayne Stater," The Eagle's editor Jennifer Cleveland said. "I am proud that our staff members, who have worked so hard this year, earned awards and that all their hard work paid off."

Cleveland, a senior from Scottsbluff, won the Hard News/Spot News Story category for her piece about the December 2008 murder of CSC student Kenneth Pfeiffer.

"It's unnerving enough for college journalists to cover murders of their peers," the judges stated in their comments returned with the results. "It's even harder to interview friends of the dead. Cleveland's interview with a former roommate of a murdered student is well done."

Cleveland also took two second-place awards, one in the News Photograph category, the other in the Feature Story category.

The Eagle's Savanna Wick, Morrill sophomore, won the Cartoon category for her depiction of the evolution of music.

Her entry prompted judges to comment, "Wick makes her amusing point with four words and three dates - and some nifty drawings."

Wick also placed third place in News Photograph for her image of a CSC-student couple standing in the burned-out living room of their rented home, gutted by fire in early February.

Sophomore advertising manager Carmen Brown of Harrisburg won the Advertising Design category with her creative ability with typography - a point succinctly noted by the judges who stated, "Brown wins for the best use of type."

Photographer Daniel Binkard, who graduated in December 2008, took first in Sports Photograph for a Sept. 6, 2008, football picture that captured CSC's inside receiver Isaac Stockton landing on his head in the end zone for a touchdown.

"Excellent, excellent capture of a moment!" the judges wrote. "It's hard enough to catch action at a football game, but to also get the face through the mask is a wonderful plus."

The Golden Leaf Awards is an annual competition open to students from all NCMA-member student-run media, which encompasses about 15 two-year and four-year institutions statewide. The competition recognizes student work in newspapers, radio, television and online media. This year eligible entries must have been published or broadcast between Jan. 1, 2008, and Feb. 21, 2009. In the newspaper division each student was permitted up to two entries per category; institutions were limited to five entries per category. The Best Overall Newspaper was determined from points awarded to students who earned first, second or third in the competition's 14 individual categories. First place in an individual category was worth three points, second place, two points, and third was worth one point.