The Cerritos College Talon Marks staff received its 11th online general excellence, among other awards, at the annual JACC SoCal conference last Friday and Saturday at Cal State Fullerton.

The awards obtained were the following:

• Jean-Pierre Giagnoli won a meritorious award for broadcast news portfolio,
• Scott Watkins won honorable mention for inside page layout in a broadsheet,
• Michael Agudo, Scott Watkins, Tim Dickerson, Steven Martin and Werner Gomez won honorable mention for photo illustration and
• Werner Gomez won honorable mention for broadcast video journalism.

The Journalism Association of Community Colleges is a non-profit educational corporation that focuses on community college’s journalism programs.

Its annual Southern California conference consists of lectures and workshops as well as on-the-spot competitions.

Scott Watkins, online editor, feels very proud despite knowing that the possibility of Cerritos obtaining that award was indeed high.

“It was expected. It’s not like we (Talon Marks) think we are all great, but we know where we stand when it comes to the online edition of our paper,” he said.

Cerritos was one of the first community colleges to transition to College Publisher 5.0, which is the Web service it uses to design and publish the online version of Talon Marks.

Watkins personally spent six hours a day, seven days a week trying to figure out how the publisher worked.

“I, along with Mr. Cameron and Alicia, would spend most of our time trying to learn how to upload photos and place content onto our page,” Watkins noted.

With the help of the newspaper advisor, Richard Cameron, and instructional aid Alicia Edquist, Watkins was able to create and design a web site in a matter of two weeks.

He added, “It’s the legacy I’m leaving behind for Talon Marks. The Web site was like my baby.”

Staff members are glad the Web site received the general excellence award.

Arts Editor Esmeralda Infante proclaims, “I’m really glad we received it. It shows to prove that someone recognizes all the effort and hard work everyone on our (Talon Marks) staff contributes to the paper.”

Most of the editors on the Talon Marks staff spend at least six hours a day working on page design, covering stories, and other necessities of the paper.

On production night, editors spend nine or more hours producing the paper.

Watkins confided, “A lot of people don’t know an ounce of the time and effort and dedication the staff puts it. All those hours in the newsroom, not to mention the countless hours outside of class, that all of us put in was finally recognized.”

News Editor Ernesto Gomez hopes that this award will prove to Cerritos College that the newspaper he and the rest of the Talon Marks staff produce truly surpasses the level of excellence of other colleges.