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The ������ý���� chapter of the National Broadcasting Society (NBS) captured five first-place awards at the NBS’ 50th National Undergraduate Student Electronic Media Competition on March 23 in Washington, D.C. The competition was part of the 71st Annual Convention of the NBS-Alpha Epsilon Rho.

������ý���� students Ryan Hanratty ’13 of Valley Stream, N.Y., Dan Marley ’13 of Manalapan, N.J., and Kelly Sousa ’13 of Delran, N.J., earned first-place nods in the category of Video Music Entertainment Program for Backstage Story, while Sousa also claimed top honors for Where Have You Been, in the Video Public Affairs/Interview Program category.

In the Video Magazine Program category, Alex Valerio ’16 of Bridgewater, N.J., and Nic Stasi ’13 of Monroe, N.J., earned first-place awards for ������ý���� Geared Up, while Emily Mazzio ’13 of Medford, N.J., took top honors in the Audio Station Imagine category for 107.7 The Bronc Space Sweep.

Travis Hastings ’13, of Ulster Park, N.Y., was awarded the first prize for his Audio Public Service Announcement, Screen for Life, which urged people to be screened for colorectal cancer. Hastings lost his father to this type of cancer.

“I know the project, and being rewarded for it, meant a lot to him,” said Scott Alboum, video technologies coordinator in the Department of Communication and Journalism, whose two-year term as chair of the NBS-Alpha Epsilon Rho Board of Governors is expiring.

Hastings and Sousa won first-place awards in 2012, as well. The ������ý���� students were competing against their peers from such institutions as the University of Miami, the University of North Carolina, the University of Florida and the University of Southern California.

“It’s great to see the students rewarded for such good work over the past year,” said Alboum, who added that 26 students attended this year’s convention, an experience that will benefit them all. “It’s a wonderful convention that gives them all the chance to network with media professionals and tour their television and radio production facilities. It’s such a great experience for them.”

The ������ý���� NBS first-place awards were not confined to students, however. Dr. Shawn Kildea, assistant professor of Communication, captured top honors for his documentary Children of Terror, in the NBS-Alpha Epsilon Rho Professional and Alumni Competition.

More than 70 colleges and universities have chapters in the National Broadcasting Society, whose purpose is to encourage and reward scholarship and accomplishment among students of broadcasting, to establish meaningful communication between student and professional broadcasters and to foster integrity in the use of the powerful instruments of radio, television, film, cable and its many associated businesses and industries.