Star places fifth in national contest The Northern Star placed fifth in the best of show competion at the National College Media Convention, held Oct. 29 - Nov. 2 in Chicago. First- through fourth-place finishers in the Star's category -- daily circulation tabloid -- were student papers at the universities of Nebraska, Arizona, Washington and Oregon. Winners of the daily broadsheet category were, in order: Ball State, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Kansas and Pennsylvania. For the contest, hundreds of student newspapers submitted a single issue of their choice. Winners were announced on the convention's final day. In addition, Star photographer Randy Douge placed sixth in the convention's "Chicago portrait" competition. Douge was one of 20 photographers from across the country chosen at random for the contest. Go to Associated College Press list of award winners. The Star also placed first this fall in the Northern Illinois Newspaper Association's first-ever general excellence competition for college newspapers. Go to NINA awards list. New leaders chosen for Star newsroom After three semesters at the helm, editor in chief Jaime Jordan is stepping down for her last semester at NIU. The spring editor in chief is Kevin Wendt, who was the Star's sports editor this fall. Managing editor is Laura Grigsby,editorial editor is Josh Gaby,campus editor is Dawn Raftery, city editor is Sarah Boomgarden, copydesk chief is Erica Wood, photo editor is Wade Duerkes, sports editor is Stacy Clardie and Weekender editor is Sean McDonald.

Your contribution will help future Star generations by Tim O'Malley Northern Star Alumni President 'Tis the season ... For shopping, holiday parties, bad ties and giving of all sorts. Family gifts obviously dominate our minds; however, this time of year also is well known for charitable gifts. From _tag days_ to annual funds, the holiday season is typically the most philanthropic time of the year. Salvation Army volunteers seem to be quite successful at getting your attention by ringing a loud bell. CONSIDER THIS PLEA THE EQUIVALENT LOUD, ANNOYING SOUND! By now, you guessed it, this is a plea for your financial support. As a fledgling organization, we need funds to continue our existence and expand our programming to help current Star employees get the same opportunities we did. We need your help to continue our mentor program, which helps students gain valuable insight and advice in the field of their choice. We need your help to continue to facilitate student workshops, seminars and internships. We need your help to ensure that the Star can offer the same opportunity to express free speech we enjoyed. If you're not the warm and fuzzy type and are wondering, "What's in it for me?" there's benefit to you as well. We need your help to continue and expand networking opportunities like the job listings in this newsletter, and the upcoming alumni directory. Also, we need your help to ensure that we can continue to fund the scholarship program that was founded in Jerry Thompson's honor two years ago. I'm sure you picked up the theme of this letter: We need your help to make the Northern Star Alumni a success. You will receive a letter from our organization in the near future asking for funds. Please remember the good times you had at the Star, the friends you made and the learning experiences you had. Also, remember how those experiences helped you to become who you are, and get to where you are in your career today. As you consider all of this, please remember that the workplace is so much more competitive than when many of us graduated, and that you need a much greater skill to succeed. The only way we can ensure that the current students can acquire the backgrounds that we did from the Star is to pitch in. Anything you can give will be greatly appreciated and will ensure that the Star, and its graduates, continue to succeed in years to come. Think of us next time you hear the bell! And have a great holiday season. Tim O'Malley, NIU '89, is publisher of Where Chicago Magazine. E-mail him at wheretomalley@insnet.com.