Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - Students and alumni from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville were recognized for their hard work and excellence in video production, receiving several regional and national awards during the 2005-06 academic year. At the local end, the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association (WBA) Student Awards for Excellence acknowledged Mike Jacyna, a 2005 UWP graduate now employed by WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee, for his directing of the "Pioneer Women's Basketball" TV sports play-by-play. Jacyna received first place in the competition. Also recognized for excellent work in production was Amy Bonjean, a 2005 UWP graduate currently employed at a travel agency in Milwaukee. Producing a TV newscast for TV-5 News, Bonjean received third place overall for her contribution to the competition. All entries for the WBA competition were judged by a panel of professional broadcasters and judged on merit. Awards were given to Jacyna and Bonjean in early April at the WBA student seminar luncheon during a news reporters workshop at the Crowne Plaza in Madison.

On the regional and national front, UWP students and alumni also did well in the National Broadcasting Society's (NBS) student electronic media competitions. Jacyna, Bonjean, Andrea Pityer of Jefferson and Lindsay Webster of Whitehall are national finalists for their work on the program segment of "30-CC Presents eLi." The studio or live performance segment featured both an interview and a live musical performance from the musician eLi at a coffee shop in Green Bay. Pityer is a senior majoring in communication technologies with an emphasis in broadcast production and a minor in business administration and Webster is currently employed by FOX Sports in Minneapolis, Minn. She transferred to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls to be closer to work. This category is for long (two minutes plus) hard news or spot news segments that would air during a newscast. This same group of people won the grand prize (first place)for this program segment in the regional competition and national competition for NBS. "It was so exciting to win this award," says Pityer. "It feels really good to be from such a small school and win a national award when you are competing against some of the top schools from around the country." Scott Abing, who had been a student at UWP but is now employed as a news photographer with KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Aaron Athas, a junior majoring in communication technologies with a vocal music minor from Fort Atkinson, received honorable mention for their TV news story titled "Beer Keg Registration" at the regional student production competition for NBS.

Additional students who worked on the award-winning newscasts include Phil Moldenhauer of Racine, alumnus Eugene Nemetz of Algoma, Mitch Pritchard of La Crosse, Jennifer Scarpaci of Arlington, Amy Specht of Manitowoc, and Ruth Wendlandt of Manawa. Advisor and instructor of communication technologies courses at UWP, Robert Snyder believes that one of the reasons UWP broadcasting students have done so well is because they use original stories for their broadcasts rather than filling the show with stories from outside sources. "The awards are a reflection of the overall quality of our department and the hard working, dedicated students who are our majors," indicates Snyder. "We are one of the smallest communication programs in these competitions, but we more than hold our own."

Contact: Robert Snyder, communication technologies faculty, (608) 342-1630,snyderro@uwplatt.edu"

Prepared by: Marsha Pauly, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194,paulym@uwplatt.edu