UCO students win big at competition

The Oklahoma Broadcast Education Association (OBEA) recently honored University of Central Oklahoma professional media students at its annual student broadcast competition with 24 awards for studentproduced audio/radio, video/television and new media broadcasts.

“We had another great showing, and we are proud of our student’s work,” said David Nelson, Ed.D., professor of mass communication and OBEA president.

In the audio category under the direction of Nelson, Central students won the following awards.

Radio News

First place – Kevin Blair (Guthrie, Oklahoma)

Second place – Kelly Merka (Mustang, Oklahoma)

Third place – Georgia Jones (Edmond, Oklahoma)

Entertainment/Talk

First place – Adam Thomas (Owasso, Oklahoma) with the podcast “Stage and Screen”

Radio Personality

First place – Majia Cottrell (Oklahoma City)

Third place – Emily Grim (Perry, Oklahoma) with the radio show “Women in Music”

Audio Sports Magazine/Talk

First place – Bradie Gray (Enid, Oklahoma) and Jackson Rowbottom (Tuttle, Oklahoma) with the podcast “The Long Ball”

Audio Promo

First place – Logan Gassett (Bethany, Oklahoma) with “Fly on the Wall Podcast Promo”

Second place – Jocelyn Schifferdecker (Tulsa, Oklahoma) with “Don’t Stick to the Status Quo”

Personality Talent Reel

Third place – Jocelyn Schifferdecker

Audio Narrative

Third place – Logan Gassett with “Dig, Dig”

In the interactive media category, under the direction of Desiree Hill, Ph.D., assistant professor of mass communication at UCO, Central students won the following awards.

Multimedia Journalism

First place – UCentral News with “Snow Storm”

Second place (tied) – Kendall Walton (Choctaw, Oklahoma) with “Power Outage”

Second place (tied) – Eden Jones (San Antonio) with “Oklahoma Hospitals and Abortion”

Hard News

Second place – Jonathan Richardson (Edmond, Oklahoma) with “OKC Fire”

Third place – Eden Jones with “Abortion in Oklahoma”

Directing

First place – Ben Anderson (Edmond, Oklahoma) and Trey Guzman (Tulsa, Oklahoma) with “UCentral Election 2022”

Newscast

Second place – Miracle Garrett (Tulsa, Oklahoma) and Dylan Steiber (Chandler, Oklahoma) with “UCentral News”

Station Programming

Third place – UCentral News

In the video category, under the direction of Milos Ajdinovic, assistant professor of mass communication at UCO, and Mark Scott, assistant professor of mass communication at UCO, Central students won the following awards.

Documentary Long

First place – Kaleb Gonzales (Blair, Oklahoma) with “Ayudame”

Documentary Short

First place – Kaleb Gonzales with “Val the Boxer”

Third place – Kelly Merka with “Second Responder”

Informational Video

Third place – Chris Lomelin (Laredo, Texas) and Collin Carpenter (Edmond, Oklahoma) with “Wings” Sports Magazine/Talk

Second place – Trystan Pipkin (Choctaw, Oklahoma) and Payton Scott (Sand Springs, Oklahoma) with “Inside Broncho Basketball with Coach Bob Hoffman”

Several Oklahoma universities and colleges participated in the OBEA student competition, which generated nearly 230 entries and was judged by media professionals from the Oklahoma City, Tulsa and surrounding regional media markets. Award recipients were recognized at the annual OBEA conference at the River Spirit Casino Resort in Tulsa, Oklahoma, March 30.

For more information, contact Nelson at 405-974-2584 or dnelson7@uco.edu.

Diana Pate honored for generosity

Champion of Character recipient, Diana Pate was honored for her generosity in a short presentation at her downtown business, Silverleaf Gems on Friday, April 7th.

Diana’s daughter, Stephanie Carel, nominated her for the award. Stephanie said, “I have grown up my whole life following in her footsteps and knowing that giving is part of what you do.”

Stephanie saw her mother as a shining example of generosity. She and her sisters, Sondra Reid and Jackie Allen, observed Diana as she cared for others, giving of her time, talents, and resources. When someone was ill, Diana took soup and made herself available to drive them to their doctors’ appointments.

Diana is a long time Edmond resi- dent and a familiar face in downtown Edmond. She worked at the Sears catalog store when Stephanie and Sondra were youngsters. Her husband, Jack worked for Sears in OKC during that time.

In 1994, Sears transferred Jack to Fayetteville, Arkansas. Diana worked in the healthcare industry there until she was hit by a car. She suffered life threatening injuries. It changed her life. Diana found herself the recipient of generosity from others. Family members came to Arkansas to help cook and take care of her and her family.

Through the rehabilitation process, the nurses encouraged her to work with beads. They loved her work and

See Diana, Page 16