May 10, 2007

College Newspaper Awarded

The American Scholastic Press Association awarded the St. Mary's College of Maryland's (SMCM) student newspaper, The Point News, a first-place award in its Annual Review and Contest. Regional advisers judged approximately 2,000 scholastic yearbooks, magazines, and newspapers.

The contest judged The Point News on content, page design, planning, illustrations, editing and creativity. Contest judges also gave suggestions to the students on ways to improve their publications.

"Your school has an excellent school newspaper," said Richard Plass, chairman of the American Scholastic Press Association. "The quality of your publication shows the talent of your editors, reporters, writers, photographers, layout designers and advisor."

"Not only is St. Mary's an honors college, we have an honors newspaper to match. This honor is just one indication of how far the College has come. We are proud of the accomplishments of The Point News staff," said Maggie O'Brien, president of St. Mary's College of Maryland.

"The Point News staff works long hours editing, writing and laying out the newspaper every two weeks," said Zach Messitte, director of SMCM's Center for the Study of Democracy, and assistant professor of political science who also serves as the The Point News faculty adviser. "I tip my hat to Editor-in-Chief Julia Copley and the staff of the paper. It is wonderful to see their devotion to quality journalism has been recognized at the highest level."

The Point News executive staff members are Julia Copley of Hagerstown (editor-in-chief), Jeremy Pevner of Pasadena (managing editor), Allen Nuccio of Gaithersburg (news editor), Laura Cooper of Silver Spring (arts and entertainment editor), Jennifer Ridgley of Severna Park (sports editor), Andrea Gesumaria of Silver Spring (opinions editor), and Meredith Queen of Waldorf (humor editor). Junior staff members are Melanie Zuckerman of New York, NY, Grace Livingstone of Silver Spring, and Ryan Hunt of Lusby (assistant section editors), Erin Hardy and Sonja Kubik (copyeditors), and Becca Tuttle of Silver Spring and David Yost of Hollywood (photographers).

St. Mary's College of Maryland is ranked one of the best liberal arts colleges in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, The Princeton Review and Kiplinger's. With roots going back to 1840, SMCM is the state's only public honors college, offering the academic excellence of a top private college with the openness and affordability of public education.