February 16, 2001

WKU Student Newspaper Wins Two Gold Crown Awards

Bowling Green, Ky. - The College Heights Herald has completed a third consecutive sweep of college newspaper's top awards by winning not one but two coveted Gold Crown Awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

Western Kentucky University's student newspaper won Gold Crown Awards for the fall 1999 semester and the spring 2000 semester in awards presented Thursday night in New York.

"This sets a standard that cannot be exceeded," Herald adviser Bob Adams said.

Western was one of four schools that were honored with Gold Crowns for both semesters. The others were Kansas State University, Indiana University and University of Oklahoma. Four others - Ball State University, Eastern Kentucky University, University of Texas-Arlington and Michigan State University - received one Gold Crown Award.

"We've never won two Gold Crowns before," Adams said. "We've been pretty happy with one."

The Herald won one Gold Crown in each of the previous two years. In November, the Herald won a third consecutive National Pacemaker from the Associated Collegiate Press and the Newspaper Association of America Foundation.

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.

Herald staff members also fared well in the individual Gold Circle Awards presented by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

Ryan Clark, a Louisville junior, won first place in general features.

Chris Tabor, a Bowling Green senior, won first in editorial cartoons.

Krystal Kinnunen, a December graduate from Louisville, won first in photo story (black and white).

Wendi Thompson, a junior from Pensacola, Fla., won first in sports photo.

Jerry Brewer, a May graduate from Paducah, placed second in sports feature story.

Certificates of Merit were awarded to Lindsay Sutton, a Shelbyville junior, for sports feature; Andrew Otto, a December graduate from Vail, Colo., for sports photo; Cassandra Shie, a senior from Sterling, Va., for photo illustrations; and the Herald staff for overall design.

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