“The Bat” honored at TIPA meeting

Published or Revised March 29, 2007

Former staff members of [i]The Bat[/i], the Paris Junior College student newspaper, earned the college a third place in Overall Excellence at the annual Texas Intercollegiate Press Association conference in San Antonio March 21-24. One story headlined, "I think I smell a rat," about wildlife invading campus buildings, netted three awards: a first place in non-photo illustration for Amy Branham's cartoon of a "wanted" critter, a second place for Jesse Hausler's headline, and a third place for Mindy Riffle's news feature story. Hausler also won a second place in sports column writing and honorable mentions for general column writing and news feature story. He now attends Austin College. Former editor Jo Kyle Varner, who is now studying recording engineering at Mediatech Institute of Dallas, won an honorable mention for a sports news story. "It is so gratifying to see our students recognized by journalism professionals for their excellent work," said Sharon Dennehy, PJC journalism instructor and Bat adviser. The "previously published" entries are judged by reporters and editors from around the country. Three consecutively published papers are judged to give the Overall Excellence rating. Krista Goerte, current co-editor of [i]The Bat[/i], was awarded a $400 scholarship. She and staff writers Courtney Barham and Kayla Carter, competed in on-site writing and photography contests and attended sessions presented by professional journalists. Joey Dean, former [i]Bat[/i] editor and current Texas A&M University-Commerce [i]East Texan[/i] editor, won a first place in Division 3 news story, a second in sports page design, and third places for information graphic, page one design, and headline. Dean also interned at [i]The Paris News[/i] while attending PJC. Riffle, now a member of the Texas A&M University-College Station [i]Battalion[/i] staff, and Dean attended the conference along with more than 500 students from Texas colleges and universities. In Division 5, PJC competes against Mary-Hardin Baylor University (first place, Overall Excellence), St. Edward's University, Houston Baptist University, East Texas Baptist University, North Lake College (second place, overall excellence), Trinity Valley Community College and Angelina College.