and Outstanding Sports Section from the
American Scholastic Press Association."
The Aurochs is UNCP's annual student
publication of poetry, art and literature.
Dr. Karen Helgeson, a faculty member in
the English and Theatre Department, has
served as the publication's only faculty
advisor during its nine years of existence.
The Pine Needle Web editor is Shawn
McCain, a junior computer science
major from Laurinburg, N.C. The assistant
Web editor is Chang Lin, a sophomore
computer science major, also from
Laurinburg.
McCain's newest development for
the Web site is an RSS feed, which gives
anyone the ability to download the latest
issue's top stories to their iPhones or
other smart phones.
In addition to news from the print
edition of The Pine Needle, the Web
site offers podcasts by Electronic News
Editor Dustin Porter, a freshman studying
mass communication from Lumberton,
N.C., and video news packages by Web
Video Editor Charles Grant Merritt, a
junior mass communication major from
Whiteville, N.C. There is also a Facebook
page and a Twitter stream.
earned two honorable mention awards:
Editor-in-Chief Wade Allen, a senior
mass communication major from
Rutherfordton, N.C., for news writing;
and Layout Editor Kaleh Myers, a junior
mass communication major from
Lumberton, N.C. for design.
The American Scholastic Press
Association's judges called The
Indianhead "an outstanding overall
example of a scholastic publication in
format, content, and presentation."
Other categories included creativity,
photography and page design.
In his third year working on the
yearbook, David Torres II, a digital art
major, was the editor. He was excited to
hear the news.
"My reaction to winning the award
was beyond shock," Torres said. "I was
really excited because not only has
the yearbook been such a success to
myself and the entire staff but also the
University."
The Indianhead had perfect marks for
"content presentation" and "publication
structure."
"The yearbook, thanks to the entire
staff and our advisor, was very colorful,
structured and couldn't have been put
For faculty advisor Sara Oswald, the
2009 edition was her 20th yearbook. She
was pleased with the edition and with the
award.
"David is a talented artist and did
some nice digital art work," Oswald said.
"I appreciated all the work and creativity
that David and his staff put into this book,
and now others appreciate it too.
With the 2010 edition well underway,
Oswald took a moment to reflect.
"We will enter both competitions
again next year," she said. "I was pleased
with the scores and input we received.
"It was a high quality yearbook,"
Oswald concluded. "This award was well
deserved."
"It was hard work, but a great
experience," Editor Torres said.
"Staff put together the yearbook in less
than seven months, and it is not easy," he
said. "It requires endless phone calls, late
nights, interviews, pictures, emails and,
of course, walking all over campus to get
it all done.
"To know that we received the 2009
American Scholastic Press Association's
first place award with special merit made
it all worth it," he concluded.
Sabrina Godwin and Danielle