The Shield named Division II Newspaper of the Year

For the second year in a row, The University of Southern Indiana's student newspaper The Shield was named Division II Newspaper of the Year at the annual Indiana Collegiate Press Association (ICPA) conference. The conference was held April 5 in Indianapolis.

Last year, The Shield shared the honor with Butler University's The Butler Collegian. ICPA defines Division II newspapers as non-daily publications with school enrollment of more than 3,001 full-time students.

The students brought home 40 awards (including Newspaper of the Year) - 15 first-place, 13 second-place, and 12 third-place. Fifteen students won individual awards, and The Shield staff as a whole earned several awards. Last year the staff won 28 awards.

"It is gratifying to see The Shield and the students who work so hard get the recognition they deserve," said Dr. Wayne Rinks, chair of the Department of Communications.

The Shield won seven staff awards: First place for Best Use of Twitter; Second place for Best Facebook page; Third place for Best Single Issue; Third place for Best Themed Issue; Second place for Best Breaking News Reporting; First place for Best Staff Editorial; and Division II Newspaper of the Year.

Individual award winners were:

Jimmy Pyles and Kelsey Turner: Second place, Best Special Issue

Shannon Hall: Second place, Best Stand-Alone/Pullout Section

Jessie Hellmann: First place, Best Breaking News Reporting; Third place, Best Sports Feature Story

James Vaughn: First place, Best Non-Deadline News Reporting; First place, Best News or Feature Series

Jimmy Pyles: First place, Best Opinion Column; Third place, Best Sports Page; Third place, Best Feature Page; Second place, Best News Photo; Second and third place, Best Feature Photo; First and third place, Best Sports Photo

Zane Clodfelter: Second place, Best Sports Column; First place, Best Sports News Story

Jimmy Pyles and Jake Tapley: First place, Best Entertainment Column

Jessica Stallings: Second place, Best News Feature Story

Dennis Marshall: Second place, Best Sports News Story

Jimmy Pyles, Kelsey Turner, and Danielle Waninger: First place, Best Overall Design

Kelsey Turner: First place, Best Front Page; First place, Best Feature Page; First place and second place, Best Photo Essay or Picture Story; First and second place, Best Informational Graphic

Jimmy Pyles and Zach Rothenberger: Second place, Best Special Section Front/Cover

Ean Edwards: Third place, Best Editorial Cartoon

In the Advertising category, winners were:

Kaitlin Crane: Third place, Best Ad Design in Special Section or Supplement

Dixie Halber: Third place, Best Electronic Ad - House

Kelsey Ziliak: Third place, Best Self-Promotional Campaign

Jimmy Pyles: Second place, Best Rate Card

In other conference business, James Vaughn was elected president of the 2014-15 ICPA board, and Erin Gibson, advisor to The Shield, was elected to a third term as executive director. Jimmy Pyles served as ICPA president and Jessie Hellmann and Kelsey Turner served on the board in 2013-14.