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CINCINNATI –  The Scripps Howard Foundation has awarded $100,000 in scholarships to 10 college journalism students from across the United States through its Top Ten Scholarship competition.  

Accredited journalism programs may nominate one journalism student for the award. From the pool of nominees, ten top students are selected for $10,000 scholarships each. The scholarship is a one-time award covering a full academic year.

“Journalism education is essential to the Foundation’s mission,” said Judith G. Clabes, president and CEO.  “Each year we seek out the most talented and promising undergraduate journalism students in the nation to support them in their efforts to become contributing career journalists.”

Top Ten scholars are selected based on academic achievement and a demonstrated interest in journalism as a career. They are required to submit personal essays on long-term goals and a portfolio of work and recommendations. An independent panel of professionals judges the entries.

The Top Ten Scholarships are offered annually to full-time students entering their junior or senior year in any journalism sequence.

This year’s Top Ten scholars are: 

• Mark A. Bruce, Ohio University, a junior broadcast journalism major from Granville, Ohio. He is senior producer of WOUB News who has worked as a play-by-play commentator for the OU NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball games.  He is an honors scholar.
  
• Talia Nichelle Buford, Hampton University, a senior print major from Flint, Mich. She is editor of the school newspaper, the Hampton Script, an honors college student, and a Chips Quinn intern this summer at Press & Sun-Bulletin in Binghamton, N.Y.
  
• Emily Hagedorn, University of Kentucky, a senior print major from Florence, Ky.  She will be editor of the school newspaper, the Kernel, next year. She is interning this summer at the Detroit News.
  
• Patrice R. Holderbach, Kansas State University, a senior print major from Topeka.  She will be editor of the student newspaper, the Collegian. She speaks Spanish and Arabic and hopes to become an international correspondent based in Latin America.
  
• Jesse Abrams-Morley, Northwestern University, a senior print major from Wynnewood, Pa.  He works on the student newspaper, The Daily Northwestern, and has had internships at The Miami Herald and The Intelligencer in Doylestown, Pa.
  
• Elizabeth Owens, Drake University, a senior print major from Palo, Iowa., who aspires to “a front row seat at the White House as one of the nation’s top political reporters.” She was editor of the student newspaper, the Times-Delphic, and is a correspondent for The Des Moines Register.
  
• Kyle Palmer, University of Missouri-Columbia, a junior broadcast major from Independence, Mo. He has been sports director at the campus radio station, KCOU, doing play-by-play broadcasting and hopes to work for NPR. He is a Phi Beta Kappa honors student.
  
• Lauren J. Smiley, University of Iowa, a senior print major from Marion, Iowa , who is interning this summer at The Boston Globe and attended the University of Guadalajara in Mexico during the spring semester. She is an honors student with a double-major in Spanish.
  
• Ivy Meagan Smith, West Virginia University, a senior news-editorial major from Keyser, W.Va.,  who freelances for the Morgantown Dominion Post. She aims for a master’s degree in foreign languages and reporting abroad.
  
• Shauna Stephenson, Iowa State University, a senior photojournalism major from Ottumwa, Iowa.  She has been a photo editor for the Iowa State Daily and a photographer for the student magazine, Ethos.

Dedicated to excellence in journalism, the Scripps Howard Foundation is a leader in industry efforts in journalism education, scholarships, internships, literacy, minority recruitment/development, mid-career training and First Amendment causes.