Student Publications Honored

Fairmont State was recently honored by the Society for Collegiate Journalists with 10 national journalism awards for its weekly newspaper and yearbook.

The 10 awards represent the second highest number ever earned by Fairmont State since it started entering this competition in 1998; it took 11 in 1999.

Five awards were presented to The Columns, the campus student newspaper, the most that publication has ever earned. The Mound, the FS yearbook, also took five awards, including fourth place for overall excellence. The 10 awards placed FS in fourth place among the more than 50 colleges competing in the yearly event.

"It's gratifying for the students to see their hard work is paying off. We don't publish with awards in mind, but this makes the results of what they do all year all the more pleasing," said Kevin Z. Smith, FS Director of Student Publications. "This continues a strong tradition of quality publications for Fairmont State."

The Mound earned a first place in yearbook concept, a third in reporting, a third for coverage of the year, a fourth in photography and a fourth in overall excellence. Former FS student Katie Wilson was the editor.

The Columns' awards included a first place to Keith Johnston for cartooning and four honorable mentions for personal opinion, best editorial, best opinion page and best front page. Jeff Riffle earned the personal opinion award and Daleen Berry earned the editorial honor. The newspapers' awards were based on issues published in the fall of 2004. Jessica Lawson is the current editor.