UUP’s communications efforts earned a total of 12 awards in the annual journalism competition conducted by the AFT Communicators Network.

The Voice picked up six awards and The Active Retiree added three more, both for outstanding writing and design. The union’s TV ad, 35th anniversary journal and 2008 legislative brochure also brought home awards.

UUP President Phillip Smith’s To the Point article “‘There is no try’ in the fight for SUNY,” which ran in the December 2008 issue of The Voice, won second place for Best Editorial.

“One of the best leads in the contest ties Star Wars to the union’s battle to save SUNY from severe budget cuts,” the judges wrote.

The statewide television ad “Growth Machine”—which demonstrated the need for more full-time faculty—took first-place in Best Public Relations Activity. Director of Communications Denyce Duncan Lacy wrote, edited and directed the spot and produced it with the assistance of a professional video crew.

The 35th anniversary journal won a second-place award for Best Nonperiodical or Special Publication. UUP Media Relations Specialist Donald Feldstein wrote the copy and Communications Assistant Angell Law handled the layout, while Publications Specialist Karen Mattison designed the cover. More than $10,000 was raised through advertising to benefit UUP’s College Scholarship Fund.

The 2008 brochure highlighting the union’s annual legislative priorities picked up third-place honors for Best Single Effort.

The Voice also earned the following:

• First place, Best Original Illustration/Photo, April 2008 cover montage of UUPers talking with lawmakers, and Best Design, December 2008 issue. Mattison designed both winning entries.

• Second place, General Excellence (writing, editing, design), October, November and December 2008 issues.

• Third place, Best News Story, “SUNY is the $olution,” which emphasized the economic role SUNY plays in local economies, by Feldstein, and Best Feature Story, “Being eco-friendly,” about Oswego UUPer David Sargent’s electric car, by UUP Communications Specialist Michael Lisi.

The Active Retiree received:

• First place, Best Design, November 2008, by Mattison.

• Third place, Best Feature Story, “Water Wilderness,” November 2008, by Mac Nelson of Fredonia. “Excellent, well-written and very inviting,” according to the judges.

• Third place, Best Editorial, “Health care should be a priority in this election,” April 2008, by Judith Wishnia of SUNY Stony Brook. The judges emphasized Wishnia’s “good use of quotes and research to support (her) opinion.”

— Karen L. Mattison