Two students from the School of Mass Communication won first-place awards last weekend at the Society for Professional Journalists (SPJ) Regional Spring Conference in Knoxville.

Kristin Veasey-Knox of Little Rock, a radio, television and film student, won first place in the Radio News category for her piece she produced for a KUAR-FM broadcast on the death of a Salvation Army worker killed at Christmas.

Veasey-Knox, a senior majoring in mass communication, is also one of four UALR students hired through the University’s Cooperative Education program as video controller positions at the Arkansas House of Representatives.

Nathan Vandier of North Little Rock, also a mass communication senior, won first place for Radio Feature for a piece titled “Homeless Day Care.”

Both will compete in the national SPJ contest in October.