Staff members of The UTD Mercury, the student-run newspaper at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), were recognized for their work at the recent 94th Annual Texas Intercollegiate Press Association (TIPA) convention, a prestigious journalism conference held in Fort Worth.

The Mercury staff captured 10 honors, including one in live competition held during the event and nine for material published during the 2001 calendar year. The awards included two first place distinctions. Nine members of the newspaper staff attended to conference, at which the students also attended presentations by leading professional journalists.

In the contest involving previously published material, The Mercury competed in a division made up of colleges and universities in Texas with enrollments of more than 7,500 and that publish newspapers less than four times per week. Among the 20 schools competing in the division were Lamar University, Stephen F. Austin State University and The University of Texas at El Paso. Judging was conducted by staff members from The Arizona Republic (Phoenix) and journalism faculty members from East Carolina State University, Northern Arizona University and the University of Southern Indiana.

“I’m very proud of The Mercury staff’s efforts throughout the past year,” advisor Jay Miller said. “I believe the wide variety of awards speaks to the depth of talent that we’re beginning to attract to UTD’s student newspaper.”

Individual and staff honors awarded at the conference included:

  • First place, print sports writing (live competition), Clint Stewart, sports editor
  • First place, sports news, Aaron Cooper, former sports editor
  • Third place, special edition/section, The Mercury staff
  • Third place, opinion page design, K. Shelby Clark, editor
  • Third place, sports feature photo, Maria Jaral, photographer
  • Third place, news story, Jay Robbins, former staff writer
  • Honorable mention, general column, K. Shelby Clark
  • Honorable mention, overall newspaper, The UTD Mercury
  • Honorable mention, critical review, Ryan Eldridge, former life and arts editor
  • Honorable mention, sports news, Aaron Cooper

The UTD Mercury is published on Mondays at two-week intervals during the school year, except holidays and exam periods, and once every three weeks during the summer. The newspaper is available online at www.utdallas.edu/student/mercury/.
Established in 1909, TIPA works to open channels of communication and cooperation among student media programs at two and four-year colleges and universities in Texas. Some of those media include student newspapers, newsletters, yearbooks, magazines and radio and television stations.