The Iowa State Daily Publication Board selected a junior from Panora as next year’s editor in chief Wednesday.

Keesia Wirt, a journalism and mass communication major, was chosen as the 1997-98 editor in chief. Tim Frerking, a senior in journalism and mass communication, was selected at the board’s monthly meeting as this summer’s editor.

“I was very excited,” Wirt said. “This is something I have wanted to do since my freshman year at Iowa State and I’m thrilled that I have been given the chance,” she said. Wirt was the only applicant for the fall/spring position.

Frerking was chosen out of a pool of two applicants.

Wirt, who now serves as head news editor at the Daily, said she thinks next year could be an interesting year for the Daily. “A lot of important issues have been raised, but above all else that is happening, I want to continue the tradition the Daily has of being the best campus newspaper, not just in Ames, but in the Midwest,” she said.

Frerking, who is now a news editor at the Daily, said he was “elated” to hear he had been hired.

“When I first came here to the Daily in the summer of ’95, Marty Helle, who was the editor in chief was a transfer student and I hoped that I, as a transfer student, could do the same someday,” he said.

Frerking said working on the summer paper should be enjoyable. “And it should continue to be as strong as it is now,” he said.

John Hobson, chairman of the Publication Board, said one of the reasons Wirt was selected is her commitment to the Daily. She has worked at the Daily since coming to ISU.

“It says a lot about someone’s dedication to the organization,” Hobson said.

He said Wirt’s proposals in her application packet were interesting. Wirt said she wants to maintain the basic structure of the Daily, but she “tweaks some changes that were in the best interest of the Daily,” Hobson said.

Hobson said the decision for the summer editor in chief was a tough because there of two excellent candidates.

“What set Tim apart was his motivation and how he motivates people. He’s a go-getter,” he said.

Both the fall/spring editor and the summer editor are paid.