By the USU department of journalism and communication

LOGAN -- Utah State University journalism students won 13 awards in the annual Mark of Excellence Awards competition at the Society of Professional Journalists regional convention in Cedar City.

The prizes recognize the best of student print, broadcast and online journalism in the five-state region, and were scheduled to be announced officially Saturday during ceremonies at Southern Utah University.

Most impressive in this year's awards was a complete sweep of the online news category by USU students, who took all nine of the honors awarded in the category for a student news website. Their work appeared during the 2002-03 academic year on The Hard News Cafe, which last year was named one of the top three student-produced news websites in the country.

"We're very proud of our students' work in all the media in which we competed," said Ted Pease, head of the USU department of journalism and communication. "These students are smart, talented professionals. Based on the work, ethics and dedication I see from these students, the next generation of American journalism will be in good hands."

Pease said he was particularly impressed by his students' performance in the online category, and praised the work of journalism professors Nancy Williams and Michael Sweeney, who oversee the Hard News Cafe news site.

"I've never seen one university completely dominate an entire category," Pease said.

Region IX of the Society of Professional Journalists includes colleges and universities in Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and part of Texas.

The USU Mark of Excellence winners:

Newspaper:
1st--Clark Jessop, column writing
2nd--The Utah Statesman, best all-round non-daily newspaper

TV News:
3rd--Mike Chidsey, TV sports reporting, Aggie TV News

Online News:
1st--Marie Griffin and Joe Dougherty, online in-depth reporting ("Unpopular column brings Tremonton student fame, grief")
1st--Lindsay Blau, online feature reporting ("JJ--Heather Christensen's 'incredible privilege' and the challenge of a lifetime")
1st--Leon D'Souza, online commentary and opinion
2nd--Andrea N. King, online feature reporting ("Milkman: It's all about time and speed as Jay Jeppson...")
2nd--Kari Gray Hoopes, online in-depth reporting ("No arms? No worries...")
3rd--Melanie Steele, online feature reporting ("Living with glaucoma: An appreciation of sight")
3rd--Bryan Seeley, online general news reporting ("When JCOM students talk")
3rd--Landon Olson, online sports reporting ("Crosbie steps from player to assistant...")
Honorable mention--The Hard News Cafe, best online independent student publication

Radio News:
Honorable Mention: Michael Shiverdecker

All four USU first-place regional winners go on to compete nationally, with those awards announced at the annual national Society of Professional Journalists convention next fall.

Last year, four USU online student journalists won national awards as best in the country in their categories. Senior Leon D'Souza, a national winner in the commentary category last year, repeats this year as a first-place regional winner and returns to the national competition.

USU also has filed an official protest to the national SPJ office, however, alleging judging irregularities in the TV news categories. All but one of USU's 14 TV news entries were disqualified by the judges because they said the videotapes did not include audio.

"That simply was not true," Pease said. "The least the judges could have done was to call us when they had trouble with the entries, and we could have sent them new videotapes.

"USU-TV news students are award-winners every year. What the judges did in this competition was to eliminate our students from their opportunity to compete in the region and nation against their peers. We have asked the national SPJ office to investigate and to review its policies."

For more information, contact the USU journalism and communication department.

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