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Sept. 3, 2002

ULM'S Chacahoula Gains National Recognition

The University of Louisiana at Monroe's 2001-2002 yearbook, The Chacahoula, was recently selected as second place, best of show and general excellence, at the National College Media Workshop in Washington, D.C.

Daniel Strickland, editor-in-chief of the book, is a mass communications senior from Anacoco. The yearbook is designed, written, edited and produced entirely by ULM students.

"I was very excited when the judges announced our award, especially since we were in competition with such universities as UC-Berkley, University of Michigan, University of Nevada-Reno and Furman," Strickland said. "I'm proud our program can run with the best of them."

Yearbook adviser Jarrett Reeves recalls how close ULM came to not having a yearbook at all last spring.

"We were in a crisis mode in student publications in the fall. The decrease in student enrollment and the related decrease in student publication fees resulted in less money to support our publications," she said. "We were forced to abandon the yearbook because we knew we could not afford to publish."

Students rallied to the cause and voted a fee increase effective at the beginning of the spring 2002 semester and the yearbook was completed and distributed on schedule, Strickland said.

"This award is the first and hopefully not the last for the 2002 yearbook, and it gives the events of last year more definition," he said. "This award means so much to me because we came so close to not having a book at all. Now, our hard work and dedication is repaid with a national award."

Joy Heard, editor-in-chief of The Pow Wow, Strickland and Reeves attended the student media conference earlier this summer.

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