March 03, 2006

Daily Egyptian named top college paper in Illinois

by Tim Crosby

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Illinois College Press Association named Southern Illinois University Carbondale's Daily Egyptian the top college newspaper in the state.

The student-run campus newspaper received the John David Reed General Excellence Award, beating out all other daily student newspapers in the state based on three randomly selected issues. In addition to the overall award, staff members from both the editorial and advertising departments combined for a total of 25 individual awards.

The awards ceremony was held Feb. 18 in Chicago.

The paper, which circulates on campus and around Southern Illinois Monday through Friday while classes are in session, competed in both the open and dailies category. Other papers in the competition included the Daily Illini, of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Daily Eastern News at Eastern Illinois University and the Daily Northwestern, of Northwestern University.

Zach Creglow, editor in chief and a senior from Altona, said the awards showed the paper's staff is capable of great work.

"It's very satisfying," said Creglow, who also won an honorable mention nod for a sports column he wrote. "There's still lots of work to be done, but it's a definite morale boost for the rest of the year."

Manjunath Pendakur, dean of the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts, said the awards show the newspaper is on the right track.

"I am thrilled and proud about our students winning not only 25 awards in the ICPA contest but also the overall excellence award," Pendakur said. "It is the first time in the history of the paper that Daily Egyptian has received that high honor at the state level. We beat Northwestern and University of Illinois papers! This is a clear marker of how hard these dedicated students and faculty who are associated with it work to produce a high quality paper every day. I plan to use the DE achievements in our promotional efforts nationally and internationally."

The staff individual awards ran the gamut from layout and design, to reporting and writing, critical reviews, photography and advertising excellence. In all, staff members won nine first place awards.

A complete listing of the winners follows:

Editorial awards

Editorial cartoons: Alex Ayala, junior, Gaithersburg, Md., third place.

Graphic illustration: Alex Ayala, second place and honorable mention.

Critical review, film: Andy Horonzy, 2005 graduate, Le Roy, first place.

Front page layout: Jennifer French, junior, Normal; and Heather Henley, senior, Mulkeytown, first place.

Sports column: Zach Creglow, senior, Altona, honorable mention.

Feature story: Moustafa Ayad, 2005 graduate, Urbana, first place.

Feature page design: Jennifer French, honorable mention.

Sports page design: Jennifer French, honorable mention.

In-depth reporting: Daily Egyptian staff, first place.

Photo essay: Anthony Souffle, junior, Collinsville, second place; Amanda Whitlock, graduate student, Rantoul, honorable mention.

Feature photo: Lane Christiansen, sophomore, Algonquin, first place; Roger Darrigrand, 2005 graduate, Belmont, N.C., honorable mention.

Sports photo: Lane Christiansen, first place; Anthony Souffle, honorable mention.

General news photo: Alan Rogers, senior, Burnt Hills, N.Y., third place; Anthony Souffle, honorable mention.

Spot news photo: Robert Lyons, 2005 graduate, Portsmouth, Ohio, first place; Anthony Souffle, honorable mention.

Advertising awards

Advertisement, less than full page: Arijit Banerjee, graduate student, Calcutta, India; and Martha Egan, 2005 graduate, Libertyville, first and second places.

Classified section: Lucy Musielak, junior, Oak Lawn, second place.

In-house promotional ad: Arijit Banerjee and Martha Egan, third place.

Advertising campaign: Arijit Banerjee, first place.

Engaging the whole student is among the goals of Southern at 150: Building Excellence Through Commitment, the blueprint the University is following as it approaches its 150th anniversary in 2019.