ALUMNI NEWS: Jennifer Gish wins national award

Jennifer Gish's ('09, BA in English, journalism emphasis) headline, "Facebook a friend again," was part of The Orange County Register staff entry that won the American Copy Editors Society's 2011 headline contest.

They earned first place in their division: newspapers with circulations between 160,001 and 240,000.

The judges said: "This choice wasn’t close for any of us, really. Orange County’s staff said a lot in a few words, and their entry was consistent: Each hed popped. We liked that they submitted heds across several sections of the paper, showing that they don’t rely on one or two headline stars."

For more information, go to the American Copy Editors Society website at http://www.aces2011.org/events/18/headline-contest-winners/

Congratulations Jennifer!

ALUMNI NEWS: President Obama Chats with a Group in Falls Church, VA including Chapman Alum

Chapman University, Wilkinson College Political Science alum Nadar Baroukh ('04,'05) was elected mayor of Falls Church, VA. (see story here) in July 2010.

As part of his new job responsibilities, Mayor Baroukh was invited to President Barack Obama's backyard discussion on the Patient's Bill of Rights on September 22, 2010.

During his talk, President Obama observed that he and Mayor Baroukh share a name that means "blessing" - Check it out at the 2:50 mark.

Alumni News: Literary Magazine and Creative Nonfiction Journal Come to Life

Litterbox Magazine - Founded by Pat Martin ('09) and Sarah Reck ('09) is the result of a facebook status conversation between two graduate student friends living on opposite sides of the country. In such a world ripe with technology, the idea was immediate: to create an online receptacle for bold, fresh voices in the literary world. To begin, they turned to their writerly friends, the bold and the fresh in their everyday lives. This meager literary journal soon morphed into a magazine set out to showcase the various talents in more fields than just short story and poetry.

Check out dirtcakes (Founder, Editor Catherine Keefe ('07)), a triannual journal of creative nonfiction, poetry, art, and photography dedicated to exploring themes suggested by the UN Millennium Development Goals to end extreme poverty by 2015. "School Me" arrives December 31, 2010.