Senior Megan Garner, junior Elizabeth Lewis-House and senior Heather Strooh pose with certificates from the Ohio Newspaper Association at the awards ceremony in Columbus Feb. 14.

The University of Findlay may be a small school, but its newspaper is getting big-time recognition.

At an awards ceremony held Feb. 14 in Columbus, the Pulse was given four honorable mentions by the Ohio Newspaper Association (ONA) for its news coverage in 2006-07.

And the most impressive part?

It was the only collegiate newspaper in the competition — all of the other papers being evaluated were commercial weekly publications from around Ohio.Chris Underation, adviser to the “Pulse,” was pleasantly surprised at the results.

“When I entered the pieces in the competition, I was informed … that we’d be lucky to get an honorable mention,” he said. “ONA tells me the awards we won would be equivalent to a first place in a collegiate division if they had one.”

The Pulse won awards in four categories, including news coverage, in-depth coverage, original columns and community service. Each category was judged by working professionals and university instructors within Ohio. And several writers were honored for their work.

In the area of news coverage, the Pulse was recognized for its Nov. 30, 2006; Sept. 28, 2006; and March 22, 2007, issues. For in-depth coverage, ONA recognized Tim Warner’s article and accompanying editorial about the pay of the university president. David Springer was acknowledged for three original columns, one regarding the Don Imus situation, one about who the true victims of pornography are and one about how America is not a racist nation.

The judges seemed especially impressed by Springer.

“Springer lends a strong voice and a provocative take on issues of race and gender,” they said.

In the category of community service, several writers were recognized for a series about diversity. Heather Strooh, Angie Darr, Kelly Gadd and Ashley Brugnone contributed features to the series, while Katia Kontar added a column. The judges also commended the writers of this series very highly.

“Working with a staff of only five, the Pulse was able to produce a thoughtful series of articles on a difficult subject,” they said.

Several members of the Pulse staff attended the awards ceremony on Feb. 14. Elizabeth Lewis-House, the current editor of the paper, was one such staff member.

“The trip to Columbus was a really fun learning experience,” she said. “It was one of those hands-on networking experiences that seem to be hard to find if you just stay on campus and don’t go anywhere.”

And Underation is extremely proud of his staffers.

“We’ve worked so hard… I’ve always thought we’re better than some give us credit for, but I didn’t think we’d win awards so soon,” he said.

But the competition judges thought the Pulse deserved all it got.

“The writing showed enterprise and originality worthy of any similar size newspaper,” they said. “The students and university are to be commended.”

By Paige Aten ’08
communication major
Napoleon, Ohio