Alumni News Archives: Spring 2003
Mike Baker '00, education correspondent for the BBC, recently won the Edexcel/Linney UK Education Journalist of the Year Award for 2002, the only award in Britain for education journalism. The award was given for a body of work—Baker's network television reports, including a special on education in Jamaica, and his weekly column on the BBC News website.
Not long after returning from his Michigan stint, Baker gave a lecture on "Does Education Get the Media It Deserves?" as Visiting Professor at the Institute of Education at London University. His talk was later published as a pamphlet by the university.
Patrice Gaines '90 spent a significant part of the last six years of her time at The Washington Post investigating a 1984 murder, becoming convinced that eight men incarcerated for murder were innocent. She says she found major evidence police never told defense attorneys about that would have shed substantial doubt on the guilt of the men.
"Since leaving the Post I continued my ëcrusade for justice,' persuading others and organizations to offer their support (including the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University)," she says. "At my urging, early in February the Innocence Project in Washington D.C. decided to accept the case. They are continuing the investigation and when finished will decide whether or not there is evidence to have the case reopened. I am hopeful, as are the men and their families."
Sanders LaMont '78,ombudsman for The Sacramento Bee, has been made president of the Organization of News Ombudsmen, an international group of about 100 ombudsmen from approximately 17 countries. He was elected at the group's annual meeting in Salt Lake City last year and will preside at this year's conference in Istanbul. "The group serves as something of a professional self-help (or is it therapy?) group for those of us privileged to serve as ombudsmen, reader representatives, and various other titles," LaMont says.
A series on mentally ill juvenile offenders by Steve Twedt '99 will receive Amnesty International USA's only newspaper award this year. Twedt, a reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, was invited to the group's Media Spotlight banquet in New York in April, but the event was canceled due to budget and war concerns.
In the four-part "It's a Crime" series, Twedt followed the stories of three teens for more than a year, documenting how mentally ill and emotionally disturbed teens languish in detention centers and corrections facilities for months and even years. After the series was published, Pennsylvania state officials mandated uniform mental-health screening in all state juvenile corrections facilities.
Barry Yeoman '95 has recently published two major articles: a piece in the February '03 issue of Discover, about efforts to link abortion and breast cancer, and an article in the March '03 debut issue of AARP: The Magazine (a relaunch of Modern Maturity) about physician-assisted suicide.
Milton Priggee '01 won first prize in the "First International Internet Cartoon and Caricature Contest in Iran."The contest, which drew 475 entries from 34 countries on the topic of "Palestinians are homeless," interested Priggee specifically because it was an Internet competition emphasizing "graphic commentary."
"For the general public the biggest difference was being able to see not only all the award winners' work but to see and compare the entire field of 475 entries from 34 countries," Priggee writes. "All these different cultures commenting on the same subject. The Palestinians are a subject that most of the world is aware of yet views from many different positions." Priggee's winning entries, including the one shown here, can be viewed at the International Internet Cartoon and Caricature Contest Web site.
