FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009
Contact:
Dave Wellman, Director
of Communications,
304-696-7153
Marshall University students earn national honors for media work
INDIANAPOLIS – Two students with Marshall University’s campus media earned top awards at the Society of Professional Journalists national Mark of Excellence ceremony Aug. 28.
Adam Cavalier, a graduate journalism student from Montgomery, W.Va., and station manager for WMUL-FM, won first place for radio news reporting with his story about The Big Dipper, the historic roller coaster at Camden Park. Cavalier produced the story while an undergraduate student.
Erin Felton, a graduate Master of Arts in Teaching student from St. Albans, was the national finalist in the editorial cartoon category for her work in The Parthenon.
Cavalier began his media career doing public-address play-by-play at Charleston Catholic High School while a student. He received the first Jim Nantz award in June for best college sportscaster in the nation.
“It is thrilling to pick up a national SPJ award,” Cavalier said. “We’ve had so many entries come close in years past, but it truly is wonderful to break through and pick up the gold.”
“Our radio students have established a tradition at WMUL-FM of being able to successfully compete at the national level with other student journalists. This recognition for WMUL-FM’s Adam Cavalier in SPJ’s National Mark of Excellence contest is further evidence of the quality of the work performed by our talented broadcasting students at WMUL-FM and the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications,” said Dr. Chuck G. Bailey, radio-television professor and WMUL adviser.
Felton began her art career under the tutelage of her aunt, Vicki Boatright, who owns an art studio in Ohio. “My aunt is the artist, so she facilitated a lot of painting,” Felton said.
Felton’s strip, Think Outside the Sidewalk, began as an occasional strip while she was an undergraduate creative writing student. The main character was a slug.
After a hiatus, she resumed the strip a year ago and began integrating other animals and humans as characters. The strip reflects her dual interests of politics and art, she said. She prefers pictures over words for her college audience because students likely shy away from extracurricular reading.
“I try to be equal, but I think it’s pretty obvious that it tends toward the left,” she said. Whether it’s a young snail moving into dorm housing or two children seeking a bailout for their lemonade stand, Felton said she looks for a different way to make her point.
“Erin’s genius is her simplicity,” said Nerissa Young, adviser to The Parthenon. “She takes a complex message and reduces it to a simple sketch and simple message in just one pane. Many cartoonists need multiple panes to tell a story.”
“Winning these awards shows that Marshall’s campus media are providing quality content for the campus and community. Our students regularly compete against larger and better-funded universities. The big winners in the competition were the University of Maryland and Arizona State University,” said Dr. Corley Dennison, dean of the W Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
Presented since 1972, the Mark of Excellence Awards honor the best work from college students, members of SPJ or not. Students may submit work from campus media, internships or jobs. SPJ is divided into 12 regions for U.S. territories and the 50 states. West Virginia is in Region 4. First-place winners in each region advance to the national competition. The contest includes 39 categories for print, radio, television and online journalism. This year, judges narrowed more than 3,600 entries to a winner and one or two national finalists in each category.
Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry; works to inspire and to educate the next generation of journalists; and protects the First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press. SPJ has more than 230 professional and campus chapters.
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