UMHB steals the show at TIPA

UMHB just took home a ton of awards from the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association. Congrats to all the winners.

Texas Intercollegiate Press Association
San Antonio, TX, April 6-8, 2006
UMHB AWARDS

On-site contests– No divisions in these competitions; small schools and large compete equally in the same contests.

1st place Radio Newswriting – Chelsea Schilling
1st place TV Newswriting – Matthew Irvine
2nd place Copy Editing – Natalie Kaspar
2nd Headline Writing – Christi Snow
2nd Column Writing – Christi Snow
2nd TV Sports Writing – Sarah-Jane Sanders
2nd Radio Commercial – Matthew Irvine
HM Feature Writing – Jessa Grassi

Charles T. “Chuck” Choate Memorial Adviser of the Year – Vicky Kendig

Scholarship Winner – Sarah-Jane Sanders

Previously published entries – Division 5
1st place Headline – Christi Snow
1st Picture Story – Alicia Whaley, Erin Spurgeon, Sarah-Jane Sanders
1st Sports Page Design – Jessa Grassi
1st Single Subject Design – Megan Benishek, Alicia Whaley
1st In-Depth Reporting – Natalie Kaspar
1st Sports Feature Story – Jessa Grassi
1st General Column – Brandy Gill
1st Sports News Story – Chase Williams
1st News Feature Story – Natalie Kaspar
1st Critical Review – Alicia Whaley
2nd Overall Excellence – Bells Staff
2nd Information Graphic – Sarah-Jane Sanders
2nd Ad Design – Stacey Voelker
2nd Page One Design – Natalie Kaspar
2nd News Story – Sarah-Jane Sanders, Christi Snow
3rd place Sports Action Photo – Karl Eason
3rd Editorial Cartoon – Travis Mitchell
3rd Opinion/Editorial Page Design – Christi Snow
3rd Feature Page Design – Sarah-Jane Sanders, Jena Coulson
3rd Illustration (non-photo) – Travis Mitchell
3rd Sports Action Photo – Karl Eason
3rd Feature Story – Sarah-Jane Sanders
3rd Best of Show
HM Picture Story – Alicia Whaley, Megan Benishek, Danielle Hampton
HM Feature Photo – Sarah-Jane Sanders
HM Information Graphic – Sarah-Jane Sanders
HM News Photo – Natalie Kaspar
HM Single Subject Design – Alicia Whaley, Erin Spurgeon

U2 #1 with One


The BBC reports that a line from U2’s One topped the charts as the number one lyric this year in a VH1 poll.
The song was originally released in 1992 – and the CD single was the first CD I ever bought.
It was number 7 on the UK charts when released and the latest rendition, with Mary J Blidge went to number 2.
Top 5 Lyrics:

1. U2 – One. “One life, with each other, sisters, brothers.”
2. The Smiths – How Soon is Now? “So you go, and you stand on your own, and you leave on your own, and you go home, and you cry, and you want to die.”
3. Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit. “I feel stupid and contagious, here we are now, entertain us.”
4. Bob Marley – Redemption Song. “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds, have no fear for atomic energy, ’cause none of them can stop the time.”
5. Coldplay – Yellow. “Look at the stars, look how they shine for you.”

Evil Evil prank call

http://monkeydoo.com/onlineflash_thering2.php

Check this out.
When you click on the website, you type in your friend’s phone number, fill in a brief word or two about them (i.e. location, birthdate, age or whatever), tell the system what you want it to say, and then a link will be created for your friend.
Once they click on it, a ring-esque video will play and their phone will be called right away and the message will be delivered.
Freaky. I tried it on myself.

Simply genious (if you’re into that sort of prank call).

College students considered religious centrist

I caught a press conference on CSpan last night about a study by Harvard University Institute on Politics on College Students and their religious and political views.
I found a link to the video of the press conference on CSpan.org, but it appears to be bad.
Maybe it will start working in the near future. You can however watch the full press conference from the Harvard University website.
Anyways, it was an interesting study.

Traditional party identification labels of “conservative” and “liberal” are antiquated, and don’t fully represent students.

They said that the majority of college students define themselves as independents rather than the traditional Republican or Democrat. Students also tend to buck traditional liberal or conservative labels, looking more at right vs. wrong.

Religion is important in the lives of college students, but Republicans and Democrats may never agree on the role of religion in politics today.

Seventy percent of the students felt religion was important to them.
Twenty-five percent of students said they became more spiritual during college. Over 60 percent of Republican students thought that religion and spirituality in America was declining and it was a bad thing.
While over 50 percent of Democrat students thought that religion and spirituality in America was increasing and it was a bad thing.

Morality playing a strong role in students’ political views.

On the issues of right and wrong, Republican students tend to be focused on three major issues, abortion, stem cell research and gay marriage. But the study found many are also concerned about the moral issues with the Katrina response.
Democrats also tend to add educaenvironmentroment and health care to their concerns.
All students are concerned about genocide worldwide.

(The survey) finds seven out of ten of America’s college students believe that religion is somewhat or very important in their lives, but they are sharply divided “along party lines” over how strong a role religion should play in politics and government today. Despite these differences, more than half of students agree they are concerned about the moral direction of the country. While a majority believes hot-button issues like abortion policy, gay marriage and stem cell research are issues of morality, many also agree that the Government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, education policy and Iraq war policy are also questions of morality.

Some other information the study found was:

  • Both Democrats and Republicans agree on their concern over the country’s moral direction, but students are generally optimistic about our country’s future.
  • College students continue to support a more multilateral U.S. foreign affairs stance and are conflicted over unilateral action to prevent nuclear weapons development, including in Iran.
  • More than seven in ten students believe the United States should withdraw some or all U.S. troops from Iraq.
  • Potential 2008 Clinton-McCain presidential matchup is a dead heat on campuses.
  • President Bush’s approval rating still dropping, as students continue to feel the country is on the wrong track.
  • A majority of students trust our government’s ability to correctly choose which phone calls and e-mails to monitor, but they are still generally unwilling to allow it.

I felt like the study showed that today’s students are more concerned about human life in general than their parents may be.

One part of the study showed that students supported the spread of democracy by large ncasualtiesil casualities were in play.

Then the support decreases dramatically.

Anyways, it was an interesting program.

  • Video of the press conference