Journalism Student Receives Scripps Howard Top Ten Award
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 25, 2003
Kathleen McPartland
530-898-4260
Journalism Student Receives Scripps Howard Top Ten Award
The Scripps Howard Foundation has named California State University, Chico journalism student Melody Gutierrez as one of its Top Ten scholarship winners. Each year $100,000 in scholarships is awarded to 10 college journalism students from across the United States as part of the Top Ten Scholars program.
Gutierrez will receive a $10,000 scholarship. The scholarship is a one-time award covering a full academic year.
Top Ten scholarship winners are nominated by their universities and selected based on academic achievement and a demonstrated interest in a career in journalism. The nominees wrote personal essays emphasizing their long-term goals. A committee of industry professionals selected the winners.
Gutierrez, a senior, is a staff member for The Orion, the student newspaper. She served most recently as opinion editor and has been appointed managing editor for the fall 2003 semester. Her main interest is sports reporting, and she is working this summer as a sports intern at the Sacramento Bee. She worked as a sports intern for the Houston Chronicle during summer 2002.
Dave Waddell, adviser to The Orion, said, “Melody is one of the few, if not the only, first-semester freshmen to ever work on The Orion. That was about three years ago, and since then she has held virtually every editing position on the paper, culminating with her appointment to be managing editor for the fall 2003 semester. In addition, she has excelled academically and won a host of state and national awards, none more impressive than the Scripps Howard scholarship, which puts her in very exclusive company,” said.
“Each year we seek out the most talented and promising journalism students in the nation to help them achieve their goal of becoming career journalists,” said Judith G. Clabes, president and CEO of the foundation. The Scripps Howard Foundation supports excellence in education through scholarships, internships, literacy, minority recruitment/development and furthering First Amendment causes.
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