NEWS MENTION :: Citrus College Clarion Newspaper

JOURNALISM STUDENTS TAKE HOME TOP HONORS
They’ve done it again.

For the third consecutive year, Citrus College journalism students have earned the Pacesetter Award, the highest honor presented by the Journalism Association of Community Colleges. Citrus College is the only college in Southern California to have ever won the award three years in a row. What’s more, no other college in the San Gabriel Valley has ever been bestowed the honor.

Citrus students collected a total of 29 awards, including General Excellence for their work on both the Clarion newspaper and Logos magazine, during the JACC 2001 State Conference held on the campus of CSU Fresno, April 27-28. At the conference, more than 500 students from community colleges across the state participated in writing, photography, page design, editorial cartoon and copy editing contests and also attended workshops on a wide range of journalistic topics.

“I was astounded and gratified to come home from the conference with the Pacesetter Award for the third year in a row,” said Meg O’Neil, professor of journalism. “Our journalism program has been fortunate to have such a strong pool of devoted, gifted and motivated students who are totally dedicated to serving Citrus College by working on student publications.”

Among those students is Jeff Johnston, fall 2000 Clarion editor in chief. His Clarion semester won the general excellence award, which qualified the paper to win the Pacesetter.

“With such a tradition of excellence maintained during the last few years, I am proud to tell people that I am a student journalist at Citrus College,” Johnston said. “To be able to personally play a role in continuing and upholding that excellence, and to leave my mark here, is truly validating.”

Beyond the general excellence accolade, Johnston won four other awards, including a $250 scholarship in the name of Art Carey, a retired San Jose City College journalism professor. The scholarship is awarded to students who show excellence in their journalistic work so far and the promise of a bright future in the media field.

Also showing promise is Michelle Mondragon, fall 2000 editor in chief of Logos magazine. Beyond general excellence, Mondragon received a second place award for magazine cover design and third place for overall magazine design/layout.

“Upon learning of the magazine’s general excellence win, I was very pleased,” Mondragon said. “It feels good to know that people recognize the work we did as something of value.”

For Jorge Medina, spring 2001 Clarion editor in chief, value has come in the form of his experiences on the newspaper. A third place sports story winner at the JACC conference, Medina said joining the newspaper staff at Citrus College saved him academically.

“Before I joined the newspaper, I didn’t know what I wanted to do for a career,” Medina said. “My experiences here writing stories, designing pages, and being editor have given me a career focus. I know now that I can and will have a successful career in the communications field.”

Medina also noted that he has been proud to be editor in chief of the campus newspaper during a time when many talented new students have joined the staff.

“It’s important to acknowledge the fact that at JACC, many of the awards were won by students who have been in the program for only one semester,” Medina said. “I believe that says a lot about our future prospects.”

Professor O’Neil agrees with Medina, saying the recent triumphs at JACC are definitely an indicator of future growth. As part of that growth, O’Neil said the college would introduce a broadcast news writing class this fall.

“With the introduction of the broadcast news writing class, we hope to broaden our students’ academic and career choices, ultimately providing them with the opportunity to experience news gathering in the print, broadcast, and online fields,” O’Neil said.

For more information about the Citrus College Journalism Program, call (626) 914-8588.

Below follows a complete list of Citrus College JACC winners.