May 10, 2004
Radio-TV students capture statewide honors
CARBONDALE, Ill. --A primetime television newscast produced by Southern Illinois University Carbondale students captured a pair of prestigious first-place prizes at the Illinois News Broadcasters' Association spring meeting in Bloomington this month.
The program, River Region Evening Edition, tied for first place as Outstanding TV Newscast, sharing honors with Eastern Illinois University.
The 30-minute program also took first place as Outstanding Hard News Program for its live, Nov. 12, 2003, broadcast from Fort Massac State Park.
Richard Kuenneke, the news program's faculty sponsor, said the program's honors come on the heels of an earlier national award from the Broadcast Educators Association, which selected the show as the third-best collegiate newscast in the United States.
Meanwhile, at the state contest, student-produced radio broadcasts snared two prizes from the Illinois Broadcasters Association.
The "Sunrise Sports" show, which airs on WSIU-FM, won first place in the Outstanding Radio Sports program category.
In addition, several radio-television students scored individual awards at the state contest.
Gena M. Terlizzi of Salem won first place for TV News Photography and second place in TV News Reporting.
And SIUC students won three of four scholarships awarded by the organization. Winners are Gwyn Bevel of Centralia, Lindsey J. Mastis of St. Louis and Gena M. Terlizzi of Salem.
Engaging students in broad learning opportunities is among the goals of Southern@150, the blueprint for the development of the University by the time it celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2019.