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Student-run Manitou Messenger wins state and regional newspaper awards

By Anne Keasling '03
April 12, 2002

NORTHFIELD, MINN. - St. Olaf College's Manitou Messenger, a student-run newspaper, has earned numerous awards at two prominent press conventions this year.

The paper earned first place for general excellence in daily and weekly broadsheets at the Associate Collegiate Press (ACP) Best of the Midwest Convention in March.

The Mess, as it is known, also won first place for arts-and-entertainment coverage, second place for newswriting, third place for photograpy and honorable mention for layout at the ACP awards. "It was very exciting," says Elizabeth Holmes '02, one of three executive editors at the paper. "The ACP is the major student-press organization in the country, and we have never won anything from them before."

Earlier this year, the Manitou Messenger took home three first-place awards - for general excellence, design and typography, and best use of photography - at the Minnesota Newspaper Association conference in Minneapolis.

"I'm really proud of this group of editors," says Jan Allister, the paper's adviser and an Instructor of English at St. Olaf.

Allister credits Holmes and the other two executive editors, seniors Greta Norlander and Erik Wilterding, for the paper's quality this year. "The ACP's excellence award is hard-won," she says. "We faced stiff competition from good college papers with much bigger resources."

The trio of editors brings a combined nine years of experience in photography, design, layout, reporting and editing to the paper - as well as "creativity, attention to detail, professionalism, business sense and fresh ideas," Norlander says. "We are dedicated to keeping the lines of communication open with our staff, allowing them to bring up any ideas for improving the paper."

The executive editors oversee each of the 19 issues published throughout the academic year. The 26-person staff meets Sunday evenings and then produces different portions of the paper over the next three days. Every Friday, approximately 3,000 copies of the two-section Messenger are distributed to students, faculty, alumni and parents.

St. Olaf College, a national leader among liberal arts institutions, fosters the development of mind, body and spirit. It is a residential college in Northfield, Minn., and affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The college provides personalized instruction and diverse learning environments, with more than two-thirds of its students participating in international studies.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.