Ottawa University

OU Campus Newspaper Wins Big

OTTAWA, Kansas - It was their first time to compete in the Kansas Associated Collegiate Press Convention and Contest, but staff members of Ottawa University's Campus newspaper walked away with 19 individual awards and Second Place overall for student newspapers of private universities in Kansas.  The convention took place Saturday, April 14, 2007, in Wichita, Kansas, with 22 colleges and universities representing 32 student publications participating.  There were more than 2,000 individual entries.  Campus adviser Kara Cunningham said, "The competition was tough, with The Campus scoring higher than bigger universities with established, larger programs that have a history of newspaper achievement.  This is a great accomplishment."   

First-place individual awards were taken by The Campus in headline writing, advertising design, sports feature writing, sports photography, and sports column writing.  Second-place wins were earned in news writing, editorial writing, and news photography (see below for a complete listing of awards).  About the paper, one judge commented, "This paper seems in touch with what its audience wants to know about."

The Campus staff competed against seven other private Kansas universities, including Baker University, who walked away with first place as they have done for the past several years.  To take second place, OU beat out Bethel College, McPherson College, Southwestern College, Friends University, Sterling College, and Benedictine University.   

In addition to the awards ceremony, Campus staffers attended workshops led by media professionals representing The Associated Press, The Wichita Eagle and more.  They also toured Sullivan, Higdon and Sink advertising agency, and received a critique of The Campus by Malcolm Gibson, professor at KU.  According to Nicole Lemons, editor-in-chief of The Campus, Gibson gave a favorable review of the paper, stating that the quality design of the newspaper made it easy to read, the story ideas were pertinent, and that the paper had no major areas for improvement.

Danny Holmes, who took first place for sports feature writing, is a senior at OU and second year Campus staffer. Commenting on his story, one of the judges said, "Compared to some of the other entries, this story was a breath of fresh air."    Holmes, however, gave much of the credit to Cunningham.  "Receiving these prestigious awards is the result of Kara Cunningham's diligence to The Campus staff.  Her encouragement and guidance gave me the opportunity to present award-winning articles to . . . OU," he said.

Individual Awards

1st Place -- Mina Tsuboi -- Headline Writing -- "Dome layered with history"

1st Place -- Latasha Berry -- Advertising Design -- Valentine Sweetheart Online Ad

1st Place -- Danny Holmes -- Sports Feature Writing -- "Baseball shovels into spring"

1st Place -- Sarah Blecha -- Sports Photography -- "Ottawa soccer shows courage" (Jacob Eaton)

1st Place -- William Allison -- Sports Column Writing -- "Fantasy sports for life"

2nd Place -- Emily Loughary -- News Writing -- "Senate funding limited"

2nd Place -- Katie Bowman -- Editorial Writing -- "Events create mandatory madness"

2nd Place -- Aaron Tank -- News Photography -- "Orchestra features students, faculty" (M. Mordy)

3rd Place -- Emily Loughary -- Front Page Design -- Oct. 10, 2006

3rd Place -- Nicole Lemons, Emily Loughary, William Allison and Tyler Long -- Series Writing -- 5 stories

                      covering university provost resignation and hire

Honorable Mention -- Danny Holmes -- News Writing -- "Local World Series bets controversial"

Honorable Mention -- Jennifer Diller -- Feature Writing -- "Breast cancer hits student close to heart"

Honorable Mention -- Jennifer Diller -- Feature Writing -- "OU student's spirit remains unbroken"

Honorable Mention -- William Allison -- Interior Page Design -- Sports Page 7, Jan. 30, 2007

Honorable Mention -- Nicole Lemons -- Sports Writing -- "Cahill resigns as soccer coach"

Honorable Mention -- Emily Loughary -- Feature Photography -- "Homecoming" (cotton candy eating

                                        contest)

Honorable Mention -- William Allison -- Headline Writing -- "Baseball shovels into spring"

Honorable Mention -- Nicole Lemons -- Sports Feature Writing -- "Former Brave wins Super Bowl"

Honorable Mention -- William Allision -- Sports Column Writing -- "10 greatest things about sports"

Founded in 1865, Ottawa University is a comprehensive, not-for-profit educational institution affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. Ottawa University's educational mission brings together a residential campus in Ottawa, Kansas, and adult campuses in Overland Park, Kansas; Kansas City, Missouri; Phoenix, Mesa and Tempe, Arizona; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Jeffersonville, Indiana; as well as multiple international instructional sites.  For more information, visit http://www.ottawa.edu/.

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