Div III Newspapers
Non-dailies with 2,000 or less enrollment
Contest period was for calendar year 2008
Best Single Issue – 2nd, The Bachelor, Oct. 30 – "Election hold-in on front is informative with good local art. Nice feature on student-professor rock band. And good idea profiling the gaming whiz professor. Sports front is nice, missing a running-back feature with a days-old gamer. Wine story in Features amounts to yet another professor profile, but these are interesting folks being interviewed."
Best Special Issue – 1st, The Bachelor, Welcome Back edition – " … love the note from the student body president and the large photo refers. Faculty reading list in features section is a nice addition, and the fraternity pages is of particular interest … nice job there identifying your audience." 2nd – The Bachelor, Homecoming issue – "Enormous stand alone photo on the front is an enticing refer to the Chapel sing photos, which are nicely done. Economy and piracy stories give readers two possibilities for localizations of prevalent national stories."
Best Stand Alone/Pull Out Section – 1st, The Bachelor, Monon Bell Preview – "Very well done. The front is enticing and leads into a helpful and thorough preview section. I love the editor-on-editor score predictions. The Rugby story is a fun sidebar. 2nd, The Bachelor, 100th Anniversary pull out section – "This is a fun, nostalgic, section. The PDGs are easy to read through and provide a nice partial history of The Bachelor – and, by extension Wabash. Looking through the additional information in the main section regarding the anniversary and the state of journalism, it is obvious you all take your profession very seriously, which is heartening. Keep it up!
Best Breaking News Reporting – 1st, Jacob Stump, The Bachelor, "Some Little Giant" (Bill Placher’s death) – "Love the anecdotes about Placher’s life throughout the story. Definitely gives reader a sense of who he was." 2nd , Gary James, The Bachelor, "Wabash Mourns Johnny Smith" – "Nice job collecting fact given a difficult subject matter. These are the toughest stories a collegiate writer can tackle."
Best Non-Deadline News Reporting – 2nd, Gary James and Steve Abbott, The Bachelor, "Housing Security Surprisingly Lax: - "This is a really clever way to tackle a campus security issue. Nice job speaking to a victim of theft – and his quote was very surprising. Great example of gumshoe journalism."
Best in-Depth Story – 3rd, Gary James, The Bachelor "Clash over Delt Closing" – "Good in-depth news feature on what appears to be the biggest issue at Wabash. The philosophical debate over the spirit of the Gentleman’s Rule is interesting. Good job trying to provide substance to what was apparently at that point a nebulous issue."
Best Staff Editorial – 1st, Brent Kent, The Bachelor, "A House in Disorder" – "Clearly spells out the college’s lack of compliance for an important law. It’s a topic that’s always a particular irritant for student journalists. , and this staff-ed gets that across to the reader. Immensely enjoyed by the judge, especially the last line."
Best Opinion Column – 2nd, Brent Kent, The Bachelor, "A Response to the Future of Wabash" – "A very gripping personal story that’s hard to stop reading. It makes the reader reflect on his/her own experiences in relations to those of the writer."
Best Sports Column – 3rd, Chuck Summers, The Bachelor, "Show Some Love for the Little Guys" – "When most sports columns focus on basketball or football, this one shines a light on an underappreciated team. Good job spreading the love around."
Best Entertainment Column – 1st, James Morey, Wabash College, "Five For the Love of Film" – This was an obviously informed look at the writer’s love of film. His authority can hardly be questioned, and the conversational quality of the column makes it accessible for those of us who are not ‘film nerds.’ Very nicely done! 2nd , Morey, "Zach and Miri Make a Porno"
Best Sports News Story – 1st, Chuck Summers, The Bachelor, "We Want the Bell" - "This is a cleanly written introduction to the Monon Bell Classic for someone who is uninitiated and a nice look back for someone who’s familiar with it. Where the story really succeeds, though, is the efficiency of the writing – not many words are wasted. Nice Preview.
Best News or Feature Series – 1st, Galib Shishir, Ian Bonhotal, Adam Phipps, The Bachelor, "Meet the Interns" – "These stories go into nice detail, especially in regards to the interns’ backgrounds. It’s a cohesive package, appearing at the top of the features page each time."
Best Overall Design – 1st, The Bachelor, Nov. 6 – "A clean front with a clear lead story – the election. Several papers tend to err toward too much copy and gray space, The Bachelor makes liberal use of photos, pull quotes, refers and other supplemental elements, which is a good thing. It’s a very appealing paper visually because of that. I might only suggest a better grasp of dominant art and headlines, with smaller elements as you work your way down the page. Still, you hard work shows. Very nicely done.
Best Front Page – 1st, Patrick McAlsiter, The Bachelor, Sept. 18 – "Good use of local art. All the elements on the page are spaced well. Good use of color. Nice overall package.
Best Sports Page – 1st, Chuck Summers, The Bachelor, Nov. 13 (Monon Bell preview) – "This is an ambitious and feature sports front. White space is used effectively at the top to draw attention to the schools’ and Monon Bell logos. I like the fiery headline. There is no doubt this is the Monon Bell preview section. This is a very effective package that shows creativity and clarity of vision." 3rd, Summers, Oct. 23.
Best Special Section Front/Cover – 1st, Patrick McAlister, The Bachelor, "Back to Campus" issue – " The top photo with overlying print is appealing. I like the idea of a note from the student body president. Also, the superimposed signature is a nice touch." 2nd, Summers, Nov. 13.
Best Feature Page – 2nd, Jacob Stump, The Bachelor, Oct. 3 – "Column and story are well balanced features." 3rd, Stump, Oct. 30.
Best News Photo – 2nd, Steve Abbott, The Bachelor, "Jon Barlow mourns lost brother." – "Nice close-up shot. The bench provides good color."
Best Feature Photo – 3rd, Abbott, "A Class on the Mall" – "The natural light in this shot makes for beautiful highlights … it also allows for a super-fast shutter and a crisp shot."
Best Sports Photo – 1st, Elijah Sanders, The Bachelor, "Cook burst through a hole" - "Nice crisp shot, and good moment at the point of release. Good crop to get his entire body in the shot." 3rd, Sanders, "Smith scores 10 points."
Best Photo Essay – 2nd, Clayton Craig ’08, Bachelor, "Third Eye Blind Rocks Wabash" – "Good job capturing the alluring colors, which is what rock photography is mostly about. The backlit photo of Arion Slazar is particularly nice.
Best Informational Graphic – 1st, Patrick McAlister, The Bachelor, "Wallys: We’re Not Different" – "A nice undertaking to gauge student opinion on the alcohol environment, which is usually the most prevalent and controversial topic on any campus. Since the numbers are the story, good move to blow the graphs up big!"
Best Editorial Cartoon – 2nd, Joel Bustamante, The Bachelor, "Lego Wally wants you to vote" – "A clever representation of the struggle of elections, although I don’t understand why the text contradicts the illustration. Perhaps needs context of other Lego Wally cartoons."