The Jack-O-Lantern humor magazine and the Cancer Awareness Organization won two awards each, the most given to any groups, in the Committee on Student Organizations' fourth annual awards presentations held in Collis Commonground yesterday.
Each winner received a certificate and a $250 prize, COSO member James Gallo '99 said.
"We look at the group as a whole and what they've done, their contribution to the Dartmouth community," Gallo said.
The Cancer Awareness Organization won Best Issue-Oriented Event for its Nobacco awards program, and Gary Maslow '00 won Organizational Leader of the Year for his work with CAO and Wishing Well. The Jacko won Publication of the Year and Best Event Publicity.
Margaret Smith won Advisor of the Year for her work with the Dartmouth Rainbow Alliance. Smith serves as an advisor, resource person and advocate for both the group as a whole and individual members of the DRA.
"I was totally shocked, excited, surprised, touched and amazed," Smith said.
One of the more surprising awards was the Best Website award, a new honor that went to the Gay Straight Alliance, an organization just recognized by COSO last month.
"It's wonderful to be just starting off and to know that we have this kind of support from the student body," said Brian Jacobs '02, the webmaster for the site.
Another newcomer was DTV, which won Best New Organization.
DTV was formed during the Fall term and began presenting its weekly broadcasts earlier this term. The group plans to use its prize money to purchase its own camera, because now it must rent one from the Office of Instructional Services for $35 a weekend, DTV Station Manager Oliver Kramer '02 said.
"We fought very hard to win recognition and respect from the school and I think this is a sign that there are good things to come from DTV," Kramer said.
A repeat winner was Students for a Free Tibet, which won Best Cultural Event for the second year in a row. This year's award recognized the organization for its Tibet/China Dialogue program, which brought together a one Tibetan and one Chinese professor from Harvard to present both sides of the issue.
"They discussed the possibility of a dialogue between China and Tibet since there's absolutely nothing going on right now between the two," said Casey Noga '00, treasurer for Students for a Free Tibet.
Other winners included Sheba for Best Performing Group, Gener-Asians for Best Event Series and College Bowl as Best Academic Competition Group. The Block Party, sponsored by several groups including the Programming Board and the Student Assembly, won Best Collaborative Event.
