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UT Tyler Office of Marketing and Communications

UT Tyler Communication Students Earn Top Awards at TIPA Conference

April 4, 2012

Media Contact:  Hannah Buchanan
Editor/Writer–Strategic Communications & Media Relations
Marketing and Communications
The University of Texas at Tyler
903.539.7196 (cell)

April 4, 2012

Members of the Patriot Talon and Pine Curtain Magazine, student publications at The University of Texas at Tyler, earned 18 awards at the 2012 Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Conference in Corpus Christi, Dr. Dennis Cali, Department of Communication chair, announced.

This year’s TIPA conference brought together students from 44 colleges and universities for live competitions and skill-building workshops.

In on-site competitions, where all students compete in one division despite school enrollment and publication schedule, Andy Taylor of Tyler placed first in news writing, and Andrea Caldwell of Tyler and Danielle Haberly of Grapevine received honorable mention in ad design and critical review, respectively.

Kelley Connor of Longview, Pine Curtain editor, also placed first in editorial writing in an on-site magazine writing contest.

“I’m so proud of the heights that our journalism/mass communication students have reached. It is no small feat to be able to claim ‘Best in State’ in the important areas of news writing and editorial writing,” Cali said.

The PatriotTalon staff also submitted previously published content for award consideration in Div. II, one of five divisions. The newspaper placed second for Best in Show in Div. II, just one year after the staff earned first place in that category for the first time in school history. The staff also received an honorable mention for Overall Excellence, which recognizes quality and consistency among student publications.

Previously published contest – Div. II UT Tyler winners were:

  • Lea Rittenhouse of Tyler – Second Place Single-Subject Page Design.
  • Rittenhouse – Second Place Feature Story.
  • Rittenhouse – Third place Photo Illustration.
  • Kamren Thompson of Lindale – Third Place Illustration.
  • Thompson – Third Place Page One Design.
  • Victor Texcucano of Jacksonville – Honorable Mention Sports News Story.
  • Taylor – Honorable Mention News Story.
  • Thompson – Honorable Mention Feature Page Design.

The Patriot Talon editorial board also placed first in the editorial category.

Other magazine award winners were:

  • Chantel Martin of Dallas and Jake Waddingham of Iowa – Second Place General Magazine Picture Story.
  • Conner – Honorable Mention General Magazine Column/Essay.
  • Rachel Pratas of Tyler, Natalie Kushner of California and Waddingham – Honorable Mention General Magazine Story Package.

For more information, contact Cali, 903.566.7253 or dcali@uttyler.edu.

One of the 15 campuses of the UT System, UT Tyler offers excellence in teaching, research, artistic performance and community service. More than 80 undergraduate and graduate degree programs are available at UT Tyler, which has an enrollment of almost 7,000 high-ability students at its campuses in Tyler, Longview and Palestine.