6 UNL journalism students win Omaha Press Club Foundation awards

The Omaha Press Club Foundation named five undergraduates and one graduate student from the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to share $10,500 in scholarships.

The awards, ranging from $1,000 to $2,500, will be given to undergrads Dennis Bukowski of Omaha, Lucy Fitzpatrick of St. Joseph, Mo., Amanda Hinrichs of Kearney, Kay Kemmet of Bismarck, N.D., and Emily Nohr of Crofton, as well as graduate student John A. Baker of Lake Charles, La. The awards will be presented at a dinner at the Omaha Press Club on April 29 where the OPC Foundation will honor Alfred "Bud" Pagel, former UNL News-Editorial Department chair, with its Journalism Educator Award and longtime sportscaster Jack Payne with its Career Achievement Award.

Among the UNL students, Bukowski was chosen for a $1,500 Stan Bond Scholarship. An advertising major, he was selected to be a member of the 2011 UNL National Student Advertising Competition team, Bukowski is interested mainly in graphic design, particularly as applied to computer arts and typography.

Fitzpatrick will receive a $2,500 John F. Davis Scholarship. Majoring in broadcast journalism with an emphasis in production, Fitzpatrick minors in English. She has interned at KQ2 News in St. Joseph and at MTV in New York City.

Hinrichs, who will also receive a $2,500 John F. Davis Scholarship, is an advertising and public relations major, with minors in English and communication. She is a member of the interactive and social media department at public relations firm Bailey Lauerman in Lincoln. Past co-director of Web and social media development for the Public Relations Student Society of America, she has volunteered at United Way, Lancaster County Women in Philanthropy and the People's City Mission.

Kemmet, who will receive a $1,500 Paul N. Williams Scholarship, has a double major in journalism and Spanish. She has interned at the Bismarck Tribune and is slated to intern this summer at the Grand Island Independent. Kemmet's awards include the Hearst Scholarship for excellence in depth reporting and the Ted Kooser Award for First Year Writing.

Nohr will receive a $1,500 Panko-Roberts/President's Memorial Scholarship. A journalism major, Nohr has freelanced for the Norfolk Daily News, interned at the Yankton, (S.D.) Daily Press & Dakotan, worked as an Omaha World-Herald reporting fellow and served as a reporter for the Nebraska News Service. This summer, she is slated to intern at the World-Herald.

Baker will receive the $1,000 Sen. Edward Zorinsky Memorial Scholarship. A graduate of McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Baker expects to complete his master's degree studies at UNL this year. An executive in various capacities with Sears Holdings in Louisiana and Washington, D.C., from 2001 to 2006, Baker also worked as an assistant recreational sports director at McNeese State. He is interested in writing about religious issues and, for a time, worked at the Interstate Baptist Association in Portland, Ore., as a campus director. Baker plans to work as a journalist and teacher.

Five students from Creighton University and six from the University of Nebraska at Omaha will also collect scholarship awards.

The April 29 festivities at the Omaha Press Club will begin at 5 p.m. with meetings between the students and honorees Pagel and Payne. A reception will be followed by dinner and the awards program at 6:30. To reserve seats, call the Omaha Press Club at (402) 345-8008.

WRITER: Marilyn Hahn