For students graduating this semester, winning an award a few weeks before school gets out is just icing on the cake.   

The Center for International Disaster Information awarded UA marketing seniors Katherine Smith, Ashley Hyne and Natalie Nelson first place in their PSAid: Public Service Announcements for International Disasters competition.

“”We constantly kept checking our emails and phones the day we knew winners were announced,”” Hyne said. “”And then when they called and told us we won it was really exciting.””

The Center for International Disaster Information is a nonprofit organization that informs the public about how to help foreign communities after a disaster. As a part of this mission, the center hosts an annual media competition, now in its sixth year, in which participants from universities around the nation are asked to design public service announcements. The organization awards $10,500 in cash prizes for several different categories including print, broadcasting and, its newest addition, radio.

This year’s challenge was to create a public service announcement that presented the importance of monetary donations in response to international disasters as opposed to item donations.

The UA group won first place, and a $3,000 prize, in the print category of the competition. Its entry, titled “”Be the Change,”” shows a mother holding a son with price tags filling the frame. The photo used for the group’s project was provided by the center’s picture database. A large majority of the group’s research was directed at finding a photograph that would fit well with its idea. Each price tag showed what an American dollar could do for a family in a third-world country. For example, the amount it takes to buy a cup of coffee in the U.S. is the same amount it takes to buy 40 gallons of water in a third world country.

“”It had an emotional appeal versus a normal everyday ad,”” Nelson said. “”We looked for a picture that inspired us.””

Their project was one of 60 entries in the competition. Winners were selected based on both a public vote and approval from a panel of judges. The winning public service announcements will used to educate the public about the importance of donating money, rather than material goods, to relief efforts.

“”We hope that we will inspire people to give,”” Smith said. “”That even if you are donating a dollar it can make a huge difference in a person’s life who suffers a disaster.””

The members of this group are not the first marketing seniors to win this award. A group of seven UA students entered and won in the same category in last year’s competition. All money from the winnings will go the marketing department at the Eller College of Management.