Three University of Arkansas - Fort Smith students took home awards at the South Central
Broadcasting Society’s fall 2013 competition held at the Texas Association of Broadcasters
in Austin, Texas.
Ruben Silva of Van Buren won first place in the PSA video category for “Arkansas Human Trafficking,” and he teamed up with fellow UAFS students Brad Carney of Rogers and James Woodard of Lamar to produce the “Ralph Irwin Documentary,” which placed second in the long video format category.
The students, all of whom are media communication majors, created the films in classes taught by Dr. Susan Simkowski of Fort Smith, an assistant professor of communication at UAFS. The PSA video was a product of Simkowski’s basic production course, and the documentary was a result of her digital media class.
Simkowski said she is “very proud” of the students.
“We are excited to see our students get the recognition they deserve,” she said. “Winning awards like this reflects well not only on the communication department, but on the University as a whole.”
The awards mark the continued rise of the communication program, which is now the second largest program in the College of Languages and Communication. Nearly 80 students now major in the field of study, which UAFS began offering in 2011.
Carney, Silva and Woodward were the first UAFS students to place in the competition since 2011, when Nick Kyrouac and Aaron Hodges won first place in the video promo category with “UAFS Media Communication Promo.”
Simkowski said the department eagerly anticipates next year’s competition, which will be held in Fayetteville.
“Placing in competitions like this demonstrates the diverse talents of the students in our program,” Simkowski said. “We look forward to future competitions, as it gives us an opportunity to show off our program and what our students are capable of.”
The South Central Regional Conference and Competition consists of 25 schools in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas and is coordinated by university media programs in those states. For more information about the event, contact the South Central Broadcasting Company at scbs.nbs@gmail.com. For more information about the UAFS communication program, contact Simkowski atsusan.simkowski@uafs.edu.