Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - Several current and former University of Wisconsin-Platteville students from the Exponent staff have received awards from the 2008 Wisconsin Newspaper Association Foundation Collegiate Better Newspaper contest. The awards were given out on Jan. 30 at the yearly convention for the WNA.

The students received awards in three categories: investigative reporting, graphics and feature-writing. The Exponent shared the first place award with The Badger Herald, a Madison newspaper that according to its website, boasts a daily circulation of 15,000. The Exponent has a weekly circulation of 3,600.

"Compare those figures and you get some idea of the magnitude of the achievement," said Arthur Ranney, chair of the communication technologies department at UWP.

The following UWP students won awards from the WNA based on work they had submitted from the 2008 semesters: Becky Ninneman, and Andrew Reuter, both took second place in the graphics category. Also taking second place in the graphics category was Kate Olsen, Jessica Vretenar, and Amy Bell Kwallek. Taking third place in the investigative reporting category for a four-page section on campus safety was Heather Fosbinder, Holly Garey, Jason McGraw, ; Scott Skelly and Greg Urquhart. An honorable mention was awarded to Andrew Brunner, West Bend, in the feature-writing category.

"I think it's notable that the Exponent won four awards while competing with newspapers that are much larger," Ranney said. "The breadth of the awards demonstrates the overall excellence of the Exponent. UWP is lucky to have a group of dedicated and talented students working at the Exponent."

"Winning four awards in one year is a great achievement for the Exponent, and the fact that we won them in both graphic elements as well as reporting is representative of the quality of staff we have working in all areas of the paper," said Kwallek.

Ranney added that over the 11 years he has been a professor at UWP, the Exponent has won at least one award each year.

Some of the Exponent staff along with Ranney traveled to Minneapolis for the 18th Associated Collegiate Press Best of the Midwest College Journalism Convention. The Best of the Midwest Convention has schools across the Midwest submit their work to be judged against their peers. Last year, Reuter and Emily Yttri, Platteville, each took home awards in the single page design and news photo categories respectively.

This year, Dan Klein, Lake Geneva, took fifth place in the Editorial/Commentary category for an article that he wrote about why UWP students should attend Pioneer basketball games.

"I was pretty surprised to hear my name called for an award," Klein said. "This is my first award for writing, and it really validates my education and the hard work I've put into refining my writing technique."

"Hopefully we can continue to produce high quality work for the university community and continue to be recognized by the state for our hard work," Kwallek concluded.

Anyone wanting more information about the Exponent may contact Ranney at (608) 342-1619 or ranneya@uwplatt.edu.

Contact: Arthur Ranney, chair, communication technologies department, (608) 342-1619, ranneya@uwplatt.edu Written by: Jason McGraw, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194, mcgrawj@uwplatt.edu