Six broadcast students have won five television awards in the Society of Professional Journalists Region 7 competition. Andrea Burnett placed first and Kodi Tillery placed second for general news reporting. Michael Bieke placed second for in-depth reporting. Heather Attig placed second and Joy Larson and Barry Loudis placed third for feature reporting.

Lyman Fox, a Strategic Communications student, has received a $1,300 undergraduate research award for summer 2003. He will study pharmaceutical advertising. His project sponsors are Mary Zimmerman of the KU Medical School faculty and Maria Len-Rios.

Seventeen broadcast students won awards in the Kansas Association of Broadcasters competition, nine of them first place awards. Theresa Freed won three first place TV awards, in hard news package, complete news package and complete sports feature, for work done as an intern. Michael Bieke placed first in complete newscast and complete news feature. Other first place awards went to Kodi Tillery for hard news package; Christopher Martin for TV entertainment program; Tyler Ortega for radio PSA; and Chris Shively and Craig Comstock for station Web site kjhk.org. Second place winners were Tawnya Bach for complete TV newscast; Adam Stein for TV hard news package; and C.J. Wilford for radio entertainment program. Honorable mentions were awarded to Andrea Burnett, Janet Mason and Melissa Freeman, all for complete TV news feature; Beth Allin and Meredith Vacek for radio PSA; and to Ryan Greene and Mike Alzamora for radio sports play-by-play.

The Lawrence Journal-World on April 20 published a full-length book review written by Sarah Hill, a student in Kerry Benson's Opinion and Commentary class last semester. The review is of an astronomy book for lay readers.

Monica Delaorra will be an editorial intern on the Everyday line of Hallmark cards in summer. She, David Rombeck, Theresa Steffens and Kelly Bietka have been chosen by the Advertising Club of Kansas City Foundation to receive O'Shaughnessy advertising scholarships from the School.

Sprint has chosen Bethany Chmelka, Andrea Hughey and Megan McKenzie as three of its five interns for summer.

Six members of PRSSA, the Public Relations Student Society of America, won scholarships to attend the international conference of the PRSA, the Public Relations Society of America, in November in San Francisco: Kelly Bietka, Claudia Borge, Kelli Christman, Elena Detrixhe, Cassie Hicks and Christa Lobaugh.

The Sept. 4 All-School Student Organization introductory meeting drew 130 students interested in participating in the clubs. It was the first time the student organizations had held a combined recruiting event.

Patrick Bengtson, son of Tim and Kathy Bengtson, received the torch symbolizing knowledge at KU's annual Traditions Night August 19. He is a fourth-generation Jayhawk whose KU roots extend to his great-grandfather, an 1895 graduate. The torch-passing ceremony occurs as student descend into Memorial Stadium for this Hawk Week event. Patrick, co-valedictorian at Lawrence High School, represented the KU freshman class.

Andrea Burnett is one of 25 students selected nationwide for the Washington Semester program in journalism at American University. It includes an internship with a national news organization and sessions with well-known Washington journalism figures.

Frances Gorman, a graduate student, won an honorable mention in the student magazine competition of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication for her magazine start-up idea, Ballroom magazine.

Brian Hanni won the Kansas Association of Broadcasters award for best sports play-by-play for his work during Spring semester 2002 at KJHK. A May 2002 graduate, he hosts a sports talk show on KLWN Lawrence and is an account executive.

With the same story that won in the Hearst competition, Eve Lamborn was a winner in the Roy Howard Public Affairs Reporting competition. She received $2,000 and will attend the annual seminar for Howard winners at Indiana University.

LaTisha Merritt received the Black Faculty and Staff Student Achievement Award April 5, 2003. She will graduate in December 2003 as a Strategic Communications advertising major.

William Randolph Hearst Foundation writing competitions: Points earned by the School's entrants in the Hearst Foundation writing competitions earned KU 9th place in the nation for 2002-03. Northwestern placed first, Penn State second and Nebraska third. Students who earned points for KU were:

Eve Lamborn received fifth place in the Feature Writing competition. A total of 115 students from 64 schools entered the first of the six writing contests. Her article, "An endangered science, KU systematists work to sustain a field of study in danger of becoming extinct as fast as the creatures they gather," appeared in the November 26, 2001 Kansan.

Michael Bieke placed 19th in the Television Broadcast News competition. There were 59 entries from 36 journalism schools.

John Nowak tied for 17th place in the Photojournalism feature and personality profile competition. There were 60 students competing.

Lindsay Hanson placed 14 th in the In-Depth Writing competition. Her Kansan article, "Battling the Beast," was about the search for an HIV vaccine at the KU Medical Center. Eighty students from 48 schools competed.

Ryan Wood placed 12th and Doyle Murphy placed 18th in the Sports Writing competition.

Adam Pracht placed fifth and Nathan Dayani placed 13th in the Personality Profile competition. There were 94 entries from 55 schools. Pracht profiled a homeless man, Robert Gilmore, who for a time lived behind the Dole Center. Dayani wrote about students who sell drugs, focusing on one KU student who was caught selling marijuana. The story described the student's feelings, the consequences and how common this is in Lawrence.

Ten Multimedia Reporting students attended the Investigative Reporters and Editors workshop, "Better Watchdogs: Investigative Reporting on the Beat," November 23 in Wichita. Students attending were Lauren Airey, J.J. Hensley, Megan Hickerson, Lauren Bristow, Megan McKenzie, Ryan Copeland, Julie Jones, Meghan Erwin, Kristin Schaffer and Emily Hodes. Larry Baden and Patty Noland teach the class and accompanied the students.

Kansan staff members who attended were Jay Krall, Sarah Hill, Lauren Beatty, Brooke Hesler, Katie Nelson, Meredith Carr and Amy Potter. Alumni J. R. Mendoza from the Topeka Capital-Journal and Lori O'Toole from the Wichita Eagle also attended.

The Magazine Publishing class of Sharon Bass met with professional reviewers of their start-up concepts on December 11. Each reviewer met with four students. The reviewers were Becky Bridson, associate editor, Grounds Maintenance and Rental Equipment Register of Primedia Business publications; Kim Brower, sales and marketing, Primedia; Bridget Chang, audience marketing, Primedia; Chris Gregory, advertising production & design, Primedia; Seth Jones, Golf Course Superintendents' Association magazine; and Beth Powell Ashby, Vance Publishing Corp. Ashby, Brower, Gregory and Jones are graduates of the School

Ann Brill's Online Journalism class presented the multimedia Web site it has developed on William Allen White to Chris Walker, publisher of the Emporia Gazette and Mr. White's grandson, on December 12, at the School. The Web site focuses on the lives of Mr. White and his son, William Lindsay White, the White Foundation and medallion winners, and the White Children's Book Awards.

A KUJH-TV news story about a baby pig being raised by a dog, filmed and reported by Megan Sinclair and Zach Lee, has been picked up for broadcast on Animal Planet's "Amazing Animal Videos." Airdate is indefinite.

Leita Walker, Kansan editor in Spring 2002, has a summer internship at the Christian Science Monitor in Boston. Since graduating in December, 2002, she has been a reporter for the Journal-World.

Three Kansan staff members won Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Editing Internships for summer 2003. Lauren Beatty will work in Lexington, Kentucky.; Leah Shaffer in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Amy Schmitz in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Lindsay Piatt, now a fifth-year architecture student, has received the C.V Starr Scholarship. She has taken journalism course along with her architecture studies. Students compete nationally for the Starr awards, which recognize excellence in a number of fields, including international studies, medicine and health care, human needs, public policy and cultural studies.

Steve Schmidt was chosen as one of 30 students to take part in the inaugural Los Angeles Times Sports Workshop in May 2003. The event honors the late Jim Murray, former LA Times columnist. Ten $10,000 scholarships will be handed out.

Jonathan Ng has received the Agnes Wright Strickland Award for his academic record, leadership, and respect among students and indications of his future dedication to serving KU. He will graduate in May with degrees in Journalism and Spanish. He has served as president of the student body this year.

Sarah Smarsh, a December 2002 graduate in journalism and English, was among the McNair Scholars recognized May 1. McNair Scholars are first generation college students from low income families or students of color who work with faculty mentors to prepare for graduate studies. The federally funded program is named for Ronald McNair, the physicist and astronaut who died in the 1986 Challenger space shuttle explosion.

Andrew Vaupel and Maggie Koerth have been awarded internships by the Business Press Education Foundation for summer. Vaupel will intern with Ziff-Davis in San Francisco. Koerth will work for Reed Business Information in Chicago.

Four of the 15 KU seniors who received military commissions May 19 were journalism graduates. Christopher Laird and Steven Rapp received Air Force commissions. Flora Carson and Tamara Gonzales were commissioned as Army officers. Gonzales was featured in the Lawrence Journal- World May 16. She came to KU and the ROTC unit after serving eight years as an enlisted soldier in South Korea, Germany, Washington and Fort Leavenworth.

Six journalism students were inducted into Mortarboard honor society, which recognizes academic excellence, leadership and service. They were Laura Dakhil, Samantha Mangino, Emily Peterson, Amy Potter, Tracy Hsiao-Fang Yen, and Thi Thieu.

Two journalism students have been named to Student Senate leadership positions. Jana Szatkowski is Senate communications director and Laura Heidbreder is vice president of University Relations.

Vonna Keomanyvong was awarded a Freedom Forum Chips Quinn summer Internship/ Scholarship. She is reporting for the Wausau, Wisconsin, Daily Herald.

The Kansas Association of Broadcasters has awarded scholarships to Kelly Campbell, Georgia Chandler, Jenna Custer and Michelle Rodick for next year. The KAB awarded a paid internship to Ashley Earnest to work at KWCH-TV in Wichita.