The Pioneer, C.W. Post Student Newspaper,
Wins Five Newsday School Journalism Awards

Brookville, N.Y. -- The Pioneer, the student newspaper of the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, has won five Newsday School Journalism Awards for work published in the spring and fall 2006 semesters, including first place in the news and editorial cartoon categories.

First place for news writing went to "Remembering Michael," which covered campus reaction to the tragic death of clarinetist Michael Fallacaro, reported by news editor Michelle Pagano of Manhasset, N.Y. and copy chief Grace Itiola of Westbury, N.Y. The top award for local news and history was awarded to “Round Two,” a story chronicling controversy over attempts to hire a new student life director last spring. Editor-in-chief Danny Schrafel of West Hempstead, N.Y. wrote the story.

“I am incredibly proud to have swept the news awards this year,” Schrafel, the editor since fall 2005, said. “The news section is the core of any newspaper -- if your news reporting isn’t any good, the rest really doesn’t matter so much. It’s encouraging to see we have a solid core to build on.”

From left: Pioneer Sports Editor Matt Bosko, Managing Editor Daniel Ugenti and Editor-in-Chief Danny Schrafel.

Sports editor Matt Bosko of Beacon, N.Y. won second place for “Post-Season” and staff writer Cerissa DellaVecchia, also the opinions editor of Post Bottom Line, the campus news magazine, won third place in the features category for “A New Outlook,” which chronicled her visit to the Islamic Center of Long Island in Westbury, the first time she went to a mosque. Dan Variano claimed first prize in editorial cartooning for “Harry Whittington,” which satirized Vice President Dick Cheney’s reaction to his accidental shooting of a hunting companion.

“The fact that we won awards all throughout the paper’s sections shows that we have a lot of very talented people who help make the Pioneer what it is,” Schrafel said. “They’re a wonderful group of people to work for, evident by the fact that they put up with me, no less.”

Schrafel says he is most grateful for the news award because of the way Fallacaro’s family offered Itiola and Pagano and Pioneer readers a look at the unimaginable pain they were experiencing after losing their son in a car accident only months before he was to graduate.

“We want to dedicate the news award to Michael’s family and friends,” he says. “Without them, we would not have been able to tell the story like we did, and we are truly flattered they trusted us to tell his story. His mom and dad gave us a beautiful picture of him that we used on the cover and told us so much about him. They were so kind to us, and it means a lot.”

While taking stock of their accomplishments over the past year, Schrafel says the paper has no plans to slow down.

“We’ve just begun to run full color covers for the first time in 54 years,” he notes. “We’re getting a group of our alumni art directors together to re-design the paper for the fall, and they’re very excited for this.” He also says the Pioneer’s Web site will be ready for the fall semester.

Newsday holds its annual School Journalism Awards to honor college, high school and junior high school newspapers on Long Island. Newspapers and their staffs compete in eight categories: news writing, feature writing, commentary, sports writing, local news/history, editorial cartooning, photography and typography and layout. The awards are sent to the faculty adviser of the winning students.

Posted: May 30, 2007