by Luke Loranger |
As last semester came to a close, several UP students and faculty received recognition for their successes in a variety of endeavors, and their accomplishments are continuing into semester two.
Among those students is junior Katherine Miller, who received praise for her performance as an attorney during mock trial. Miller received the Top Attorney Award, gaining more “ranks,”or points, than any other attorney, at the University of Oregon tournament.
Senior London Ballard and sophomore Kathryn Murdock also received awards for their performances. UP’s mock trial team went up against 11 other squads and placed seventh overall.
Jacque Nelson, Natalie Hagen and Kelsie McKee also received recognition in the University of Washington tournament later on in the season. Miller said she’s confident about the rest of the team’s season.
“We all get along better than we did last year and we are definitely not constantly bickering,” Miller said.
Mock Trial's A-team followed up last semester's performance with a win at the Gonzaga University tournament this weekend.
The UP accounting team also had an award-worthy performance last semester. Juniors Isaac Mansuetti, Lance Chee and Connor Ward finished second in the nation after flying to Durham, South Carolina for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants finals.
As part of this award, each member received a portion of a $10,000 prize and $3,000 was given to the University of Portland. The final round was the third part of a competition in which students act as independent consultants to a toy company, giving the company “Gizmo” financial advice.
The team also met with young professionals for dinner in Durham.
“The night we flew in we worked until four in the morning,” said Chee. “It was a lot of work but we (were able) to talk to a lot of great people.”
Brian Doyle, editor of Portland Magazine, received significant attention when he won the Pacific Northwest Book Award earlier this month. He was awarded for his essay collection “Children and Other Wild Animals,” which includes stories describing encounters with various creatures.
The Pacific Northwest Book Award is decided by owners of independent bookstores across the region.
“Awards are cool because it is people clapping you on the back and saying, ‘Your work doesn’t suck,’” said Doyle. “They sell books for a living so to choose your book is a particular honor. If I convince more people to read (essays) it would be cool. I recommend that anyone read ‘War Prayer’ by Mark Twain.”
Doyle will read from his new work on Tuesday, Jan. 19 at 7:15 p.m. at the University Bookstore.
Luke Loranger is a reporter for The Beacon. He can be reached at loranger18@up.edu.
