SMC Student Newspaper 'The Corsair' Wins 15 Awards In SoCal Comp:

The Santa Monica College (SMC) student newspaper The Corsair won 15 awards – including newspaper General Excellence and four first place awards – at the 2015 Southern California conference of the Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC) held at Fullerton College on Nov. 14.

Former Corsair Editor-in-Chief Alci Rengifo won first place for news story, and second place for opinion story. Corsair contributor Amanda Looma won first place for her riveting audio slideshow of a 21-year-old homeless student. Corsair photographer Carlos Espinoza won first place for his photo story about a project to bring fresh water to a rural Mexican community. Former Corsair sports editor James Powel won first place in the sports game story category for his coverage of a local boxing match.

The Corsair was also one of six Southern California community college newspapers recognized for the General Excellence category.

The Corsair awards were part of JACC’s publications contest which represented the best of student journalism from the region published in the last academic year.

Saul Rubin is faculty advisor to the Corsair and is the instructor of the SMC journalism class that produces the print and online editions of the Corsair, while instructor Gerard Burkhart is the photo adviser.

A complete list of SMC awards at the 2015 JACC State Convention follows:

First place, Online Photo Story: Amanda Looma

First Place, Online Photo Story Essay: Carlos Espinoza

First Place, Sports Game Story: James Powel

First Place, News Story: Alci Rengifo

Second Place, Front Page Layout (Tabloid): William Miguel

Second Place, Opinion Story: Alci Rengifo

Second Place, Feature Story: Jose Lopez

Third Place, Video Journalism: Staci Ellen and Jose Barajas

Third Place, Column Writing: Claudius West

Third Place, Online Photo Story: Brandon Barsugli

Third Place, Sports Action Photo: Brandon Barsugli