by Laura Czingula
Editor in Chief
The University of La Verne Communications Department was recently awarded at the 49th annual California Intercollegiate Press Association (CIPA) awards, held April 17-19. The event was hosted by University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
The two-day convention was held at the Hyatt in West Hollywood, Calif., where Los Angeles Times Vice President and Associate Editor Narda Zacchino gave the keynote speech the first night of the convention.
Zacchino spoke on the issue of minorities in the media and how they have come a long way, breaking the barrier of minorities not being accepted into professional positions.
After Zacchino’s speech, the mail-in competition awards were distributed, and ULV’s Communications Department took home 22 awards.
In the Radio and Television category, alumna Amy Boyle won first and second place for her T.V. and Entertainment Magazine entry, “Eye on La Verne,” and senior Andrea Gardner placed first in the Television Feature Story category for her piece, “A Dry Campus?”
“I was very honored and surprised, my competition was really stiff,” said Gardner. “It was the only thing I submitted into the competition.”
The Campus Times competed against larger newspapers and schools such as University of California, Santa Barbara, San Jose State University, UC Berkeley and others.
The Campus Times staff earned a first place award for Newspaper Special Section, first place for Opinion Section and tied itself for third place for Overall Design.
For the Newspaper Entertainment Section, senior Kristen Dow won third place, while senior Raechel Fittante placed third for her Newspaper Opinion Column, “Administration chooses censorship” [May 2, 1997]. Fittante also earned third place in the Newspaper Special Section category for “Our Towns” [Dec. 12, 1997].
Sophomore Danny Eckardt came in third for Sports Game Article, “Women Kickers Lose Catfight at Home, 2-0” [Oct. 10, 1997] and the Campus Times staff received Honorable Mention for General Excellence.
For Campus Times photography, junior Summer Herndon placed first for Newspaper Sports Photo for her picture of the ULV/Cal Lutheran baseball game [May 2, 1997]. Senior Ryan Sones won third place in the same category for his photograph of the women’s volleyball match against UC San Diego [Nov. 7, 1997].
Former ULV student Echelle Avelar placed first for her Features Photo from ASF Day of Fun [Nov. 21, 1997].
“I wasn’t expecting to win, I was in total shock,” said Herndon. “That was the first time I shot baseball and I kind of saw the picture before it happened.”
La Verne Magazine came in second place for General Excellence. Alumna Amy Borer placed second in the Magazine News Article for “Supporting Student Life” [Winter 1997], while senior Johnny Hagerman came in third in the same category for “Diversity in the Classroom” [Spring 1997].
Alumna Starr Carroll placed first for Photography on a Magazine Cover and first place for Magazine Photograph [both Winter 1997]. Senior Veero Der-Karabetian received honorable mention for Magazine Cover and second place for Photograph for the La Verne Magazine [both Winter 1997].
On Saturday the on-site competition was held both on and off the UCLA campus.
Students entered in the competition were shuttled to different areas early that morning. The students competed for awards in News, Entertainment, Features, Illustrations, Broadcast, Copy Editing, Layout Designs, Sports and Photography.
Sophomore Jennifer Parsons was the only ULV competitor to place in the on-site competition.
Parsons placed second in the Print Entertainment Category.
“I was really nervous. I thought it was going to be different,” said Parsons. “But once it was over, I felt OK.”
“CIPA was very exciting and a lot of fun. It was my first time going and it was the first time I felt under pressure. It was a good experience,” she said.
Journalism operations manager at the University of La Verne. Production manager and business manager of the Campus Times.