Writing, photojournalism, multimedia, social media and design awards were given to several Media Arts Department students during a journalism conference April 7, 2011 to April 10, 2011 in Sacramento.

Several hundred students and faculty from nearly 50 California colleges and one in Rhode Island attended the three-day Journalism Association of Community Colleges State Convention at the DoubleTree Hotel, which included workshops, field trips and on-the-spot competitions.

JACC is a non-profit educational corporation dedicated to community college journalism in California. It is run by an elected board of directors who represent both students and faculty from around the state.

Four professors (Amara Aguilar, Jill Connelly, Stefanie Frith and Rob O’Neil) from the Media Arts Department took 16 journalism students from Pierce College to the event.

O’Neil was recognized and thanked during the weekend’s final awards ceremony in honor of his upcoming retirement and dedication to student journalism.

Student awards were presented in two general areas: Mail-ins for work published last year and on-the-spot recognition for material produced in individual timed competitions during the conference.

The weekly Roundup newspaper, the semi-annual BULL magazine and the rounduponline.net were recognized.

The following is a list of the awards won by Media Arts Department students:

On-the-spot awards:

1^st Place Twitter Competition: Kat Mabry

4^th Place Team Feature (Photo Slideshow): Arnavaz Fatemi, Joe Kukuczka, Coburn Palmer

Mail-in awards:

General Excellence: Roundup Newspaper

General Excellence: The Roundup Online (www.therounduponline.net)

1^st Place Sports Feature Photo: Joe Kukuczka

1^st Place Editorial Writing: Dan Cromar

2^nd Place Magazine Profile: Coburn Palmer

2^nd Place Photo Essay: Louie Heredia

2^nd Place Sports Action Photo: Joe Kukuczka

Honorable Mention Sports Feature Photo: Joe Kukuczka

Honorable Mention Front Page Layout Broadsheet: Roundup Newspaper Staff

Honorable Mention Online Photo Essay: Laura Gonzalez

“We are incredibly proud of our students for dedicating their time to our publications and for attending this intensive conference and competition,” said Frith, an assistant professor of journalism and adviser to the Roundup. “They learned so much by attending workshops, meeting with industry professionals and competing.”

Pierce College’s student publications:

www.therounduponline.net, www.thebullmagazine.net, www.kpcradio.com