SAN ANTONIO – The staff of The East Texan was recognized for their efforts at the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association (TIPA) conference March 22-24 in San Antonio. The East Texan received second place in overall excellence for Division 3 and a third place Best In Show award given at the conference.
Judges comments on the overall excellence award, “Clean design, very readable and accessible. Good use of photos. Wide range of story topics. Very good editorial pages.”
Overall, the newspaper racked up 26 total awards.
TIPA brings together 57 colleges and universities to compete in contests, discuss current topics and enjoy fellowship with other intercollegiate journalists.
The East Texan competes in two separate categories of competitions. The first are mail-in contests. These are submitted in mid-December and sent to professionals around the country to be judged. On-site competitions are contests held at the TIPA conference where competitors work to deadlines and compete against all colleges and universities.
Receiving on-site awards were Editor-in-Chief Joey Dean (1st place; TV sports writing), Managing Editor Troy Brakefield (3rd place; editorial cartoon), Senior Editor Wyndi Veigel (1st place; print advertising) and Copy Editor/Humor Columnist Michael Thompson (Honorable Mention in radio announcing and radio advertising).
A&M-Commerce students placed in 19 Division 3 categories for the 2006 previously published editions of The East Texan.
Dean placed first in news writing for his Nov. 16 “Pi Kappa Alpha suspended” story. “Good straight news writing – not hyped in any way. Fair presentation,” the judge said. Dean also picked up four other awards for Headline (2nd), Sports Page Design (2nd), Front Page Design (3rd) and Information Graphic (3rd).
Brakefield placed first in editorial cartoon for a Sept. 28 comic showing the death of Popeye from eating spinach. Judges comments, “The Popeye/spinach was a common theme, but the winning entry hit it right on the head for impact.” Brakefield also placed second in feature page design for his Oct. 26 retro homecoming themed page. He was voted TIPA Student President for 2007-2008.
Andrea Canafax, Photo Chief, picked four photo awards including a first place feature photo of a child splashing water at the Mane Event on Sept. 7. Judges comments, “Wow! Great expression and like it in black and white.” Canafax also picked up awards in sports action photo (3rd), picture story (2nd) and news photo (HM).
Thompson picked up a first place award for an Oct. 19 headline for his weekly column “Writing ain’t so grammarous.” Judges comments, “Don’t know which I like better, the head or the column title – “the truth and other lies’ – laughs at himself, the industry.” Thompson picked up also won a second place in television public affairs for his work on “Hot Topix.”
Other previously published award winners for A&M-Commerce were former Editor-in-Chief Justin Acker (2nd place; editorial page design, HM; in-depth reporting and HM; photo illustration), former Senior Editor Candace Turner (2nd; print advertising) Veigel (2nd in picture story and HM in feature writing), Sports Editor Brent Lyday (HM in sports feature), Shauna Banks (HM in critical review) and Student Life Editor Shristi Shrestha (2nd; picture story)