Faculty, staff and students from Louisiana Tech University’s journalism department shined in three competitions this summer. Overall, students received six awards from the Associated Press Media Editors competition and eight students from the Louisiana Press Association. Faculty and staff, who also work part time for The Ruston Daily Leader, received two awards from LPA, 15 awards from APME and one award from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association. In the APME competition, the staff of the student-run newspaper, The Tech Talk, received second place for General Excellence and second place for Best Website. Three students on The Tech Talk won individual awards. Kaleb Causey, who was the spring editor-in-chief, received third place in College Breaking/Spot News; Cody Sexton, who will serve as managing editor for the paper in the fall, received third place in the Features category; Deepanjan Mukhopadhyay, photo editor, received second and third place for College Spot/Breaking News Photos. In LPA, staff members of the Tech Talk received the following awards: • The Sam Hanna Award for Best Regular Column: Chad Merritt, former sports editor; • First place for Best Multimedia Element: Raney Johnson, former sports editor; John Sadler, who will be editor-in-chief in the fall; and Devin Dronett, photographer; • Second place for Best News Photo: Derek J. Amaya, former sports editor; • Second place for Best Website: staff; • Third place for Best News Photo: Deepanjan Mukhopadhyay, photo editor; • Third place for Best Sports Story: Kaleb Causey, former editor-in-chief; • Third place for Best News Story: Rebecca Alvarez, former associate managing editor; and • Third place for Best Feature Story: Austin Vining, former features editor. “Looks like we are rounding out our spring awards season on another good note,” said Dr. Reginald Owens, chair of the journalism department. “Yes indeed, we are proud for our work to be recognized by two premier professional groups that represent the major media outlets in this state and region. With this recognition, they tell us that the work of our students and faculty is good. I am especially proud of our students who compete and win against the top students in the top journalism programs in Louisiana and Mississippi.” T. Scott Boatright, Lagniappe yearbook adviser and instructor, received first place in LPA for Sports Coverage and Headline Writing. In APME, he received first place for Spot News, Features, Continuing Coverage, Sports Feature, Sports Columns, Editorial Writing, Multi-picture Package and Headline Writing. He garnered second place in Spot Sports and third place for Spot News, Personal Columns and General News Photo. Also in APME, adjunct instructor Nancy Bergeron received first place in Personal Columns, second place in Spot News and third place in General News. “This is a good reward for the hard work journalism students, faculty and staff put in to produce both our print and online publications,” Owens said. “I congratulate our faculty members who were also recognized for their good work. They help to lead the way for students whose jobs are well done.”