WOODLAND HILLS : 2 From Pierce Share Press Group Award

A Pierce College student and a former student have won second place in the prestigious Associated Collegiate Press competition for the best news story of 1993, for a three-part series about a former Pierce philosophy professor arrested on suspicion of keeping a gun on campus.

The stories by Sheri Price and former Pierce student Scott Hartford, published in the college’s weekly newspaper, the Roundup, were chosen from among news pieces submitted from two-year and four-year colleges and universities throughout the United States, said Mike Cornner, a journalism adviser at Pierce.

The Feb. 3 and 10 and March 24 stories chronicled the arrest and legal battle of former Pierce philosophy professor Donald Anderson, who was charged with possession of a firearm on campus, and later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of keeping a knife at the school.

“It was a controversial story on campus, and a lot of the administrators didn’t want to comment because (Anderson) was a teacher,” Price said. “It was really exciting going down to court and having the rush of being there.”

Although the award by the University of Minnesota-based organization does not include a cash prize, the honor is useful to students after they graduate, Cornner said.

“It’s an excellent resume item,” Cornner said. “Their stories were chosen from an awful lot of news items from an awful lot of reporters from a lot of four-year colleges. This is a big deal, especially coming from a community college.”

Price said she plans to graduate in May with a major in journalism and look for a newspaper job. Hartford is studying screenwriting at USC, Cornner said.

The Roundup and Pierce’s twice-yearly campus magazine, The Bull, have each won local, state and national awards in the past, Cornner said. Most recently, Pierce took first place in a journalism competition between two dozen community colleges in Southern California.