April 30, 2004 :: No. 235

Cal State Fullerton Students Win National Honors, Recognition

National Winner: Sue Stewart of Orange, a communications major at Cal State Fullerton, has won first place in the Arthur W. Page Society’s annual Case Study Competition. Stewart, whose degree program concentration is public relations, submitted a crisis communication case study in corporate communications, “Disneyland Public Relations.” She was recognized this month at an awards ceremony in New York City and presented with a cash prize of $3,000. Her faculty sponsor was Coral Ohl, CSUF professor of communications. The Page Society, in alliance with the Institute for Public Relations and the Council of Communication Management, sponsors the competition for the writing of original case studies by students enrolled in an accredited school of business, communication or journalism who are pursuing degrees that focus on corporate communications and the practice of public relations.

Model UN Team Gets the Gold: The Cal State Fullerton Model UN delegation received an Outstanding Delegation Award at the National Model UN Conference, held April 5-11 in New York. Twenty-four Cal State Fullerton students participated as part of the team. “This conference is the world’s biggest Model UN conference,” said faculty adviser Choudhury Shamim, associate professor of political science. “It’s like the Super Bowl or Olympics of Model UN conferences. And this year, it’s as if our team won the gold medal.” At this year’s conference, 210 colleges and universities, with delegates from 26 countries and five continents were present. More than 3,100 students participated, with over 40 percent of student delegates coming from outside the United States. Previously, Cal State Fullerton Model UN teams have been recognized in Chicago and New York City contests.

Daily Titan Ad Staff Honored — The advertising staff of Cal State Fullerton’s Daily Titan, the student newspaper, received two first-place awards and a third-place honor during the College Newspaper Business and Advertising Managers 2004 conference in Seattle. The staff earned top honors for best sales promotion materials and best general media kit-marketing package. The third-place finish was for best newspaper promotion campaign. Representing the student-run newspaper at the conference were Fullerton resident Erik Alden, advertising sales manager; Buena Park resident Kevin Cook, special sections advertising manager; Placentia resident Thomas Sullens, production manager; Irvine resident Jessica Leventhal, account executive; and Kim Orr, account executive, of Mesa, Arizona.

Speech and Debate Team Milestone: Cal State Fullerton’s Speech and Debate Team achieved a national championship “personal best” at the Cross Examination Debate Association National Championship Tournament held this month in Louisville. “This is the best finish the team has achieved in the history of Cal State Fullerton,” noted Jon Bruschke, associate professor of human communication studies and faculty adviser to the team. Department colleague and associate professor Jeanine Congalton also serves as an adviser. CSUF students Josh Clark and Cameron Ward, both of Fullerton, advanced to the single-elimination rounds. They were defeated in the eighth round by students from the University of North Texas. The CSUF team also participated in the recent National Debate Tournament in Washington, D.C. Clark and Ward again made it to the eighth round before they were defeated by competitors from Michigan State University. “We are very proud of the team, and their hard work certainly paid off,” said Bruschke.