CSU, Chico News

California State University, Chico’s student newspaper, The Orion, has received its fifth “Pacemaker” national journalism award in seven years, making it perhaps the most honored college newspaper of the decade.

The National Association of Newspapers and Associated Collegiate Press honored Orion editors with the Pacemaker award at the fall National College Media Convention in Atlanta on Saturday, Oct. 30. The annual five-day convention is attended by thousands of college and university journalism students across the country.

The Orion has also won the Associated Collegiate Press’ National Newspaper of the Year award the past two years, and has placed first in the university division of the California Newspaper Publisher’s Association Better Newspapers’ Contest four of the past five years.

Orion adviser Dave Waddell was particularly proud of the university winning another Pacemaker, called “the Pulitzer Prize of college journalism” by Tom Rolnicki, the executive director of the Associated Collegiate Press. No other university publishing a weekly student newspaper has won more Pacemakers over the past seven years than CSU, Chico.

“If the Yankees are the team of the ’90s, The Orion would have to be the newspaper of the ’90s in terms of the National Pacemaker award,” said Waddell, a faculty member in CSU, Chico’s journalism department. “There are probably more than a few schools across the country that would like to break up CSU, Chico’s winning newspaper team.”

Pacemakers are awarded for general newspaper excellence in three categories: community college, daily university and non-daily university. The Orion, published weekly during the academic year, won in the non-daily category, along with nine other universities.

The award was The Orion’s sixth Pacemaker, the first coming in 1989. Over the past seven years, other big winners have been Auburn University, with five awards, and St. Louis University, which has won four.

Waddell said the challenge to sustain the newspaper’s quality over a span of years is keen. “Turnover on a student newspaper staff is rapid — from semester to semester it’s different people over and over again,” he said. “But there is a sense on The Orion of handing the baton to the next group—taking the tradition and building on it. We won’t have success if students don’t have that feeling.”

The Orion is produced in conjunction with the CSU, Chico journalism department. The university has approximately 100 journalism majors with a news-editorial emphasis, and they are required to work at least one semester on the newspaper. Enrollment in the program is up about 20 percent this fall.

“News is getting out about The Orion and the journalism department,” said Waddell. “High school students come on campus and know a lot about The Orion. They’ve heard Chico is the place to major in journalism.”

Waddell said The Orion could not be produced without the assistance of non-journalism students, such as communication design students, who are attracted to work on the newspaper’s design and lay-out.

The 1999 Pacemaker was based on specific issues of student newspapers during the 1998-99 academic year. CSU, Chico graduate Kimberly Bolander, now courts reporter for the Redding Record Searchlight, was managing editor in fall 1998, and student Chantal Lamers, currently working part-time for the Paradise Post, was managing editor in spring 1999.

Also at the Atlanta convention, student Jon Knolle won first place for informational graphics in the Best of Collegiate Design competition. Knolle is currently The Orion art director. The graphic he won related to a blood-donor drive and was published in fall 1998.

The Orion was founded in 1975 and will celebrate its 25th anniversary next year. Its predecessor, The Wildcat, was founded in 1926 and was published for 50 years.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 2nd, 1999 at 10:57 am and is filed under 1999 Fall.