The '97-'98 Voice was awarded 978 points out of a possible 1,000, giving the newspaper gold medal status in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association's annual newspaper critique. Julie Theophanes, journalism major and last year's editor of The Voice, said she is excited about how well the newspaper did in the contest. "I'm proud of our school's newspaper. I've had friends from other colleges tell me that our paper is better than their paper. It's neat to hear it from the experts," Theophanes said.

According to Ann Staatz, journalism adviser, the competition is not easy. "You're competing against their standard of what a good newspaper is," Professor Staatz said. The Voice scored highest in content. The judge specifically commented on how well the paper covers the campus scene. The Voice also scored well in sports coverage. "One thing [I wanted to improve] was the sports coverage," Theophanes said. "The previous year we'd had very little in the area of sports, so I was happy that they liked our sports coverage." Theophanes also attributed the paper's high score in the contest to the staff's effort to make the cover stories interesting. She pointed out articles such as junior Suzanne Hadley's on courtship vs. dating. "That was a good start. It got us rolling," Theophanes said.

The judge liked The Voice overall, but thought several elements of the paper needed work. She wanted to see more in-depth reporting. She also said the editing could be tightened. Although the judge noted areas in The Voice that needed improvement, she had many more positive comments than negative. "I feel like the judge in the last two years has been more sympathetic to the kind of school Multnomah is. The last two judges have seemed to understand that our college is unique," Professor Staatz said.

According to Theophanes, the newspaper and the yearbook get awards because of Professor Staatz's high expectations. "She makes sure standards are high," Theophanes said. In past years, The Voice has received a variety of scores in the contest. Most scores were in the silver medal range.