FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: January 9, 2003

Contact: Donna McCracken, 206-6716

Ten Public Affairs Reporting students at UIS receive scholarships

SPRINGFIELD – Ten graduate students in the Public Affairs Reporting program at the University of Illinois at Springfield were presented with scholarships at a reception held January 9 in the UIS Public Affairs Center.

Recipients of the Milton D. Friedland Scholarships were Daralene Jones and Jill Schroeder. Kristy Hessman and Seth McLaughlin were awarded the Steven B. Hahn Reporting Scholarships. Matthew Kemeny, Lisa Miller, and Joseph Ryan received the Robert P. Howard Scholarships. Patrick Guinane, Jason Parrott, and Andrew Binion received scholarships from the Illinois Legislative Correspondents Association. All these scholarships are awarded annually to PAR students who have demonstrated strong interest and potential in the field of government and political reporting.

The Friedland scholarships are presented in memory of the late Milton D. Friedland, founder and general manager of WICS-TV in Springfield. A broadcast pioneer in central Illinois, Friedland was also a community relations associate for the campus and a long-time friend and benefactor of Sangamon State University, as UIS was formerly known.

Jones, the daughter of Russell Hawkins of Tinley Park, received a bachelor of science in Mass Communication from Illinois State University in 2002. While at ISU, she was a producer, anchor, and reporter for campus station TV-10 News, as well as a reporter for the student newspaper, the Daily Vidette. Before enrolling at UIS, she served an internship as a general assignment news reporter at WRTV-TV, the ABC affiliate in Indianapolis. During the 2002 fall semester, Jones was an intern at WICS and also worked at Menard’s and The Limited. In January she begins a six-month internship with WICS.

Schroeder, the daughter of Tamara and Ron Schroeder of Effingham, received a bachelor of arts in Speech Communication from Eastern Illinois University in 2001. At EIU, she was an assignment editor, producer, anchor, and reporter for the campus station, WEIU-TV. She also served two summer internships at

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WCIA-TV in Champaign. During the 2002 fall semester she was employed at the Pasta House in Springfield. In January she begins a six-month internship with WCIA.

The Hahn scholarships are presented in memory of Steven B. Hahn, a former Statehouse correspondent for The State Journal-Register and United Press International.

Hessman is the daughter of Steven Hessman of Springfield, Oregon, and Pamela Hessman of Eugene, Oregon. She received a B.S. in Liberal Studies, cum laude, from Oregon State University in 2002. At OSU, she was campus editor, night editor, and general assignment reporter for the student newspaper, The Daily Barometer, which was named Best College Daily in the Nation for the 2001-2002 school year by the Society of Professional Journalists. As a student journalist she also won awards for in-depth reporting and sports reporting from the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. Before enrolling at UIS, Hessman served a summer reporting internship with The Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and another internship for The Post Register in Idaho Falls, Idaho. During the 2002 fall semester, she worked as a weekend reporter for The State Journal-Register. She is interning with The Associated Press.

McLaughlin is the son of Ann Marie and John McLaughlin of Standish, Maine. In 2001 he received a B.A. in English from Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, where he was a reporter for the student newspaper, The Scarlet. Before enrolling at UIS, he was a reporter for the Suburban News in Windham, Maine, and for Worcester Magazine. During the 2002 fall semester, he was employed at Floyd’s Thirst Parlor in Springfield. He is interning with the Small Newspaper Group.

The Howard scholarships are presented in memory of the late Robert P. Howard, who joined the Chicago Tribune in 1944 and was the paper’s Statehouse bureau chief from 1957 until 1970. A noted historian, Howard wrote several books and articles on Illinois history, including Illinois: A History of the Prairie State, and Mostly Good and Competent Men: Illinois Governors, 1818-1988.

Kemeny, the son of Betty Ann and Charles Kemeny, Haddon Heights, New Jersey, received a bachelor of arts in Communications from Albright College, Reading, Pennsylvania, in 2002. While at Albright, he was a reporter, sports editor, and editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Albrightian. He also received the Trayes Journalism Award for Editing and the Albrightian Service Award, and was named to the All-MAC Academic Team in both football and wrestling. Kemeny interned one summer at radio station WKYW in Philadelphia and was a reporter for the Reading Eagle/Times before enrolling at UIS. During the

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2002 fall semester, he was a reporter for UIS’ student newspaper, The Journal. He is interning with the

Bloomington Pantagraph.

Miller, the daughter of Helen and Dennis Miller, Lockport, received a B.S. in Broadcast Journalism, with highest honors, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2002. While at UIUC, she was a reporter for student newspaper The Daily Illini, a correspondent for The Sun in Plainfield, and a teaching assistant in broadcast news production and broadcast television news classes. Miller has been news director of an online news and entertainment site and spent a summer as a news reporter, writer, and anchor for WJOL-AM in Joliet. During another summer she interned as a feature reporter for AT&T Cable Services Channel 3 in Elmhurst. In the 2002 fall semester she was employed at Osco Drugs. She is interning with WICS-TV.

Ryan, the son of Bernard Ryan of Chicago, received a B.A. in Journalism from Eastern Illinois University in 2002. At EIU, he was news editor, associate news editor, and administration editor of student newspaper The Daily Eastern News. He served a summer internship as a general assignment reporter with The Star in Tinley Park, and was awarded the Terry McCullough Memorial Community Press Scholarship. Before enrolling at UIS, he was a reporting intern at The Times in Munster, Indiana. In January he begins an internship with the Arlington Heights Daily Herald.

The ILCA scholarships are named after several persons with close ties to both the PAR program and the Illinois Legislative Correspondents Association, the entity comprised of the news media outlets represented in the Statehouse pressroom.

The Burnell A. Heinecke Scholarship honors the former ILCA president and long-time Statehouse reporter. A 23-year veteran of the Chicago Sun-Times and the paper’s first permanent legislative reporter in the state capitol, Heinecke also helped found the PAR program and served for many years on both its program and selection committees.

Guinane, the son of Joann and James Guinane of Chicago, received a bachelor of arts in Journalism from Eastern Illinois University in 2002. While at EIU, he was a reporter, columnist, page designer, and associate news editor of the student newspaper, The Daily Eastern News. He has been a correspondent for The Star in Tinley Park and for the Rolling Meadows Review in Arlington Heights, and served a summer internship as a reporter with The Beverly Review in Chicago. During the 2002 fall semester, Guinane worked

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as a part-time copy editor for Oster Dow Jones Commodity News, where he had worked as a reporting/copy editing intern before enrolling at UIS. He is interning with Copley Illinois Newspapers.

The Bill Miller Scholarship is presented in honor of the former PAR director, under whose guidance the program established a national reputation in the field of preparing journalists to cover government and politics. Before coming to UIS, Miller was an award-winning reporter with WTAX radio in Springfield and with the Capitol Information Bureau, a predecessor of Illinois Radio Network. He retired in 1993 after 19 years as director of the PAR program.

Parrott is the son of Janis and James Parrott of Monmouth. He received bachelor of arts degrees in Communications and in History from Western Illinois University in 2002. At WIU, he was a general assignment reporter for public radio station WIUM-FM, Macomb, general assignment and sports reporter for campus station WWIR-TV, weekend news anchor at WMOI/WRAM Radio in Monmouth, and reporter for student newspaper The Western Courier. He received a third place award for Outstanding Student Radio Sports Reporting from the Illinois News Broadcasters Association in 2002 and was captain of the WIU track and field team during his senior year. Before enrolling at UIS, Parrott was a reporting intern at WVIK-FM public radio station in Rock Island. He is interning with WUIS/WIPA/Illinois Public Radio in Springfield.

The ILCA memorial scholarship is given in memory of deceased Statehouse reporters, many of whom have provided guidance and assistance to the PAR program.

Binion, the son of Patricia and Patrick Binion, Kent, Washington, received a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington, Seattle, in 2002. While at UW, he was a staff reporter for the student newspaper, The Daily, a freelance reporter for Today’s Careers: The Employment Paper, and received a scholarship from the Society of Professional Journalists. Before enrolling at UIS, Binon was a government and politics reporter for The Centralia (Washington) Chronicle, where he earlier served as a legislative reporting intern, covering the Washington state legislature. He is interning with Lee Enterprises.

The Public Affairs Reporting program at UIS is a one-year master’s degree program focusing on coverage of state government news. In addition to academic work, students serve six-month internships with newspaper, magazine, radio, television, wire service, or audio news service bureaus in the Statehouse pressroom in Springfield.

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