The Drummer, a campus alternative newspaper, was honored last Thursday afternoon for several national awards.

The 1996 Campus Alternative Journalism Project (CAJP) announced the winners of this year’s awards and Iowa State’s The Drummer was honored. Awards were given in a variety of categories including honors for best design, best overall publication and best investigative reporting.

The Drummer was named the runner-up for the best alternative publication of the year. The newspaper received a $100 cash prize as an award.

The Drummer also received first place for design and an honorable mention for reporting.

Mark Ingles, production manager for The Drummer, said he is “totally psyched about the awards.” Ingles said he has been involved with the paper since it began five years ago and has seen it go through lots of ups and downs.

“This is really exciting. It breathes new life into the group. The fact that we won first place in design and second place for best campus alternative paper tells me that we’re doing something right,” Ingles said.

He said this past weekend The Drummer had its five- year reunion, which brought editors back from as far away as Colorado.

“For the past five years we have had discussions, debates and arguments about how to make the paper better without compromising our values. I think these discussions have paid off,” Ingles said.

Judges for the contest included Mother Jones managing editor Patti Wolter, author and syndicated columnist Norman Solomon, CAJP coordinator Jeremy Smith and Cross Roads magazine editor Kim Benito Furumoto.

The CAJP awards were created to encourage all types of journalism on campuses and to recognize the contribution of student journalists for free thought in their campus and communities.