November 13, 2000

Western Student Newspaper Wins National Pacemaker

Bowling Green, Ky. - For the third consecutive year, the College Heights Herald at Western Kentucky University has been recognized as one of the nation's best student newspapers.

The Herald received a National Pacemaker award Saturday in Washington, D.C., from the Associated Collegiate Press and the Newspaper Association of America Foundation.

The award, considered to be the collegiate equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize, was the eighth National Pacemaker won by the Herald and marks the first time the Herald has won three consecutive Pacemakers. The Herald competes against other non-daily student newspapers, the largest category. Twelve non-daily papers were honored.

Adviser Bob Adams said the 1999-2000 newspaper staff "had a lot of talented people who contributed."

John Stamper, a December 1999 graduate and a business reporter at the Lexington Herald-Leader, was editor in the fall of 1999. Shannon Back of Mount Sterling and Jerry Brewer of Paducah were co-editors in the spring of 2000. Back is a reporter at the Tampa Tribune and Brewer is a sports writer at the Philadelphia Inquirer. Both graduated in May 2000.

"The students who put it together deserve all the credit," Adams said. "They work hard and they take it seriously."

Previously, the Herald won National Pacemakers in 1981, 1982, 1984, 1988,
1992, 1998 and 1999.

"The fact that there is a tradition of excellence helps," Adams said. "It pushes people to do that extra interview or spend that extra time on assignment to make their work better."

The Herald also finished fourth in the Best of Show competition for four-year non-daily tabloid newspapers.

Herald staff members collected nine individual awards from the Associated College Press and College Media Advisers.

Sean Carney, a May graduate from Fargo, N.D., won first place in advertisement design. Carney is a Web site designer for Eddie Bauer in Seattle.

Molly Harper, a May graduate from Paducah, won first place in editorial writing. She is a reporter for the Paducah Sun.

Jerry Brewer, a May graduate from Paducah, won first place in diversity-multiculturalism writing. Brewer is a sports writer at the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Mark Weber, a May graduate from West Chester, Ohio, won first place in sports photography and third place in photo illustration.

H. Rick Mach, a junior photojournalism major from Sterling, Va., was second in news photography and second in photo illustration.

Jim Gaines, a senior print journalism major from Bowling Green, was third in the Reporter of the Year contest.

For more information, contact Bob Adams, Herald adviser, at (270) 745-6278.