Web version of Mace among best student newspaper sites

The online version of Old Dominion's student newspaper, the Mace & Crown, recently gained recognition as one of the three best student newspaper Web sites in the country.

The ranking, which was announced by Student Leader magazine, resulted from the Web site's entry in the magazine's America's Best Student Website Competition, co-sponsored by Macromedia.

A panel of four judges rated the more than 150 entries on such factors as content, design, interactivity with visitors, quality of links, and how the site helps students.

Webmaster Tom Feist, a senior management of information systems major from Woodbridge, Va., started the online student newspaper, www.maceandcrown.com, in August 2001. He also has served for the past year as webmaster for The Courier and for Old Dominion's alumni magazine.

"This award validates the hard work and dedication that's gone into building this site," Feist said. "With the help of my assistant webmaster, John Genthner, it is hard for me to believe that, barely six months from its debut on the World Wide Web, our site is already contending for national recognition."

Genthner, a junior from Rochester, N.Y., is majoring in e-commerce.

The ranking of the three finalists will be published in the spring edition of Student Leader magazine, to be issued in early April.