Dean Stone Night a rewarding event for many

By Adam Weinacker
J-School Web Reporter

Photos by Lisa Hornstein
J-School Web Photographer

Broadcast student Crystal Ligori (top) is all smiles with Tyler Henebry (left) Matt Mandell and Dax VanFossen while waiting for dinner to be served at the annual Dean Stone Night on April 4.

Print students Scott Bennett (left) and Madeleine Creevy help celebrate a spoof award to Kaimin adviser Carol Van Valkenburg.

In a Kaimin tradition, Kaimin adviser Carol Van Valkenburg gets a Dean Stone award. A J-School grad, Van Valkenburg never won an award as a student. This year, students unearthed and critiqued a 1971 story she wrote for the Kaimin.

The Dean Stone Awards Banquet was established to honor students who benefit from Arthur L. Stone's legacy while they pursue a journalism career. This year $81,300 was given out in scholarships and awards.

Kaimin staffers Kat Sather, Chris Rodkey, Katie Klingsporn and Luke Johnson await food and awards.

J-School Professor Emeritus Bob McGiffert (right) had the honor of a scholarship established in his name this year. It recognizes a journalism major who demonstrates a flair for news editing or a commitment to the First Amendment. Talking with him after the ceremony (right to left), Keith Graham, Denny McAuliffe and Graham's wife, Gin.

Among four new awards this year, the Jennifer Servo Memorial Award honors the memory of 2002 broadcast graduate Jennifer Servo.

Toasting to their future in photojournalism are (from left) Josh Parker Rory O'Connor, Amber D'Hooge and Annie Warren.

Professors Keith Graham and Denny McAuliffe helped present a new award for $300 in memory of Lem Price, a 2001 photojournalism graduate.

After the main event, students partied at the Union Club.

Katie Aschim was one of 12 students who received a $150 scholarship from the Melvin and Myrtle Lord scholarship fund.

Wakiyan Price plays with balloons during the presentation of the Lem Price Memorial Scholarship. Lem's children — Wakiyan and his sister Kiyanna — are now under the care of their grandparents. The scholarship was awarded to Annie Warren.

Dean Stone Night, the annual awards banquet that honors the memory of the J-School’s founder and rewards outstanding students for their hard work, induced a seesaw of emotions April 4 at the Holiday Inn.

The night – dedicated to dishing out scholarships, awards and plaques to worthy students – was laden with happiness, but also with tears over the recent deaths of J-School graduates and retired faculty.

The first award of the night was given in memory of Jennifer Servo, the 2002 broadcast journalism graduate who was slain last year while working for KRBC television in Abilene, Texas. A montage of slides showed picture after picture of Servo smiling with friends and co-workers, while footage of her reporting demonstrated her professionalism and the occasional giggle. The Beatles’ "Good Day Sunshine" played along with the images.

"We miss her smile," said J-School broadcast professor Denise Dowling. The Jennifer Servo Memorial Award of $1,000 went to Kim Dobitz, a senior in broadcast.

"I know you’ll do a good job," Servo’s mom, Sherry Abel, told Dobitz, choking back tears while presenting the award. "You’re every bit what Jennifer stood for."

Soon after, professors Denny McAuliffe and Keith Graham presented the Lem Price Memorial Scholarship. Price, a 2001 photojournalism graduate, died in a car accident while driving down Pattee Canyon a year ago. He was the father of two and had been a photographer for The Associated Press. He was about to start a new job at The Topeka Capital-Journal in Kansas.

"Even in the depths of our anguish," McAuliffe said, "we realized Lem’s life deserved to be celebrated and emulated." Price’s life was full of compassion and wonderful photography, McAuliffe said, some of which was shown at Dean Stone Night.

Graham, who was one of Price’s professors and a friend, fought back tears, which eventually surfaced during his speech.

"He taught those around more than we taught him," Graham said. "At graduation 2001, he came up to me and said, ‘I want you to meet my parents.’ Most college kids don’t say that to me." The Lem Price scholarship went to Annie Warren, a senior in photojournalism.

But the night was not only for remembrance of lost loved ones. It was also for celebration of students who have promise in journalism. More than $81,000 in awards and scholarships went to 60 students during the night to honor their hard work. And along with celebration, humor peeked in during the night every once in a while.

J-School professor Carol Van Valkenburg was panned for her lack of editing skills while writing for the Montana Kaimin back in the olden days when apparently no one believed in copy editing. (This may have been during the years Dean Stone taught Van Valkenburg the difference between a verb and a noun. It is not well known that the sharp-eyed Kaimin adviser helped pitch the U.S. Army squad tents on the Oval in 1914 to house the first J-School students during the Wilson administration.)

Kaimin staffers Kristen Inbody and Tiffany Aldinger showed the crowd several errors in a Van Valkenburg story from a 1971 issue of the Kaimin. To illustrate flaws in her article,Inbody and Aldinger pointed to Van Valkenburg’s use of "U.S." as a noun, and noted that she wrote "1 per cent" instead of the correct "1 percent."

"Carol, that’s just sloppy," Aldinger scolded. Van Valkenburg stormed off the stage, and later begrudgingly received a framed version of her copy-edited story.

The J-School faculty, led by Dean Jerry Brown, also performed a musical number while posing as Missoulian newspaper carriers.

"I sell the morning paper, sir. My name is Jerry Brown," they all sang in pitiful harmony.

The crowd, perplexingly enough, responded with a standing ovation.

"Hot damn!" Brown exclaimed. "We’re ready for the road now."

This faculty performance took place before not only students and generous donors, but also Av Westin, a distinguished broadcaster who gave the Dean Stone Address the previous night.

"I want to tell you that your student body is the best I have encountered anywhere," Westin said to the crowd. "I don’t say that to ingratiate myself. I already have my Grizzly T-shirt."

Westin’s short speech urged students to report with balance, fairness and accuracy, calling that the "essence of journalism."

"It’s clear to me you are absorbing what you are being taught," Westin said. He received a University of Montana School of Journalism sweatshirt from professor Bill Knowles, who worked for Westin at ABC News. He put the maroon shirt on over his shirt and tie and said, "I’m going to keep it, so I’m taking the label off." It’s important to dress well for all occasions, he said.

During the awards ceremony, students received scholarships ranging from $100 to $5,000, with hoots and hollers coming from students excited for their friends’ success.

An exuberant Lisa Hornstein, Web photographer, received the Albert Erickson Scholarship, given to a journalism student who wants to become editor of a Montana newspaper and has excellent spelling abilities.

The $3,900 scholarship took Hornstein off guard, but she was very pleased. "As of last semester I didn’t know what a verb was," Hornstein said. She had help from professor Sheri Venema in learning the rules of grammar.

While she was not able to spell "antidisestablishmentarianism" at students’ beckoning, she was able to spell "D100," as in the Nikon D100, a digital camera she is closer to buying now that the pressure of tuition has eased.

Jared Ritz received the MNA Dean Stone Award for $500. Ritz, a junior in print journalism, attended the banquet with a black headband, a departure from his usual tan one.

"This is a black-tie affair," Ritz said, "so I decided it should be a black-headband affair."

His award would be able to cover almost 250 headbands, he said.

Keagan Harsha, a broadcast student and $4,000 scholarship winner, said he was going to take his girlfriend out to dinner to celebrate.

Dean Stone Night relieved the wallets of many students through its generous donors and honored the memories of those close to the J-School who had died. But through the tears, laughter and horrible, horrible singing, the J-School demonstrated what Dean Brown called "a harmony that is uncommon in most university settings."

"This is the one time of the year," Brown said after many false starts due to a faulty microphone, "that I can say to all of us, ‘Welcome to the celebration of the greatest journalism school and the greatest journalism students in America.’"

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