Monday, November 8, 2004

Michigan State U. Graduate Is Named Winner of Student-Journalism Award From 'The Chronicle' Printer friendly E-mail article Subscribe Order reprints HEADLINES   Medical schools need to revise training and improve minority recruitment, educators are told City Colleges of Chicago and professors' union reach agreement Testing service to unveil an assessment of computer and information literacy Australian universities are in an uproar over national government's plan to seize control Evan S. Dobelle is chosen as head of New England regional board In Canada, University of Waterloo rises to the top of magazine's rankings Michigan State U. graduate is named winner of student-journalism award from "The Chronicle"  The Chronicle announced today that it had given its second annual David W. Miller Award for Student Journalists to Steven D. Eder, a 2004 graduate of Michigan State University who now works as a reporter at an Ohio newspaper. The Chronicle also awarded an honorable mention to a student at the University of Texas at Austin. The award went to Mr. Eder, 22, for articles that ran in The State News, the main student newspaper at Michigan State. Mr. Eder, who grew up in a Detroit suburb, studied political theory and constitutional democracy with a focus on journalism at the university. Interviewed by telephone from Toledo, Ohio, where he now covers state politics for The Blade, Mr. Eder said that he had spent so much time at The State News that it "was my major." He has also served internships at The Boston Globe, The Detroit News, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and The Cincinnati Enquirer. He plans on a career in journalism. Mr. Eder won the Miller Award on the strength of three articles that appeared this year in The State News. The first article described the threat posed to university science by ecoterrorists, who in attacks at Michigan State during the 1990s destroyed years of research. The second article, which ran in three parts (Nos. 1, 2, and 3), explored the issue of identity theft through the work of a researcher at the university's Identity Theft Lab. The third article profiled an Iraqi émigré with a background in nuclear science. Mr. Eder said he "couldn't imagine doing anything else" than writing important articles as an investigative reporter. "Nothing compares to the written word," he said. The honorable mention went to Lomi Kriel, an English major at Texas who will graduate in December. Ms. Kriel, 22, was recognized for an article about a controversy over how Texas A&M University's business school had made a sudden jump in national rankings; an article about the rise of a conservative-student movement on the Austin campus; and an article about a policy debate over immigration reform. The Miller Award, which carries a $2,000 prize, commemorates David W. Miller, a senior writer at The Chronicle who in 2002 was killed at the age of 35 by a drunken driver. With the award, The Chronicle seeks to pay tribute to Mr. Miller's first-rate journalism, insatiable curiosity about people and ideas, and talent and love for great writing. The Chronicle also hopes to identify and recognize future generations of reporters who show promise of reaching the same level of professional achievement as Mr. Miller attained. About 250 students applied for the award this year. The applicants hailed from 44 states and the District of Columbia. Eight were from Canada. Undergraduates interested in applying for the 2005 award, based on articles published in the current academic year, should watch The Chronicle's Web site early next year for information on when to apply.