Annual Report 2007 - Student Reporter
Student Reporter Raises Environmental Awareness
Timothy Bleasdale ’08 has won notable awards and praise for creative writing and environmental reporting while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in English with a concentration in creative writing, as well as a minor in philosophy.
Bleasdale was awarded second place for the Jennie Hackman Memorial Prize, which is supported by a private endowment.
“It felt wonderful to have my writing recognized with the Hackman prize. The award helped to reinforce the confidence I already had in myself as a writer,” says Bleasdale.
He also was recognized at the Office of Environmental Policy’s 2006–07 Environmental Leadership Awards ceremony for his exemplary environmental reporting for the Daily Campus, the student newspaper at UConn. Bleasdale has seen a positive effect from his coverage of a range of stories—everything from energy conservation, to testing water quality in rivers downstream from UConn, to the quarantining of UConn’s horse herd in early 2007.
“I have noticed results. One of my goals as the environmental beat writer was to run at least one environmental article a week. It was tough at first, but by the end of the year, there were times when I was writing two or three articles a week,” says Bleasdale. “I think this increased coverage served to raise the general awareness around campus of environmental issues.”
The experience has strengthened Bleasdale’s desire to effect change through his writing.
“Having spent a year covering environmental issues at UConn, I know that we have a long way to go still to solve some of the major environmental problems facing our world today, but there are a lot of great people out there working to resolve these problems and they’re making progress,” says Bleasdale. “I hope that someday my writing will help to inspire others to take up the cause.”
Bleasdale spent the summer before his senior year focusing on nature writing in UConn’s creative writing program in Florence. Upon his return in the fall, Bleasdale will take over as news editor of the Daily Campus, and continue the paper’s in-depth coverage of environmental issues on and around campus.
