78S40636 KO-D

By:  Stick                                                        H.R. No. 190



R E S O L U T I O N
	WHEREAS, Abha Bhattarai, a student at John B. Connally High 
School in Austin, has been selected as one of four runners-up in the 
national 2004 student Journalist of the Year competition; and
	WHEREAS, The Journalism Education Association (JEA) 
recognizes five top high school journalists in the country with 
these prestigious annual awards; each portfolio is evaluated on 
quality, scope, and impact in five areas: skilled and creative use 
of media, inquiring mind and investigative persistence, courageous 
and responsible handling of sensitive issues, variety of 
journalistic experience, and sustained and commendable work with 
community media; and
	WHEREAS, Editor-in-chief of her high school's newspaper, 
Connally Connections, Ms. Bhattarai has published in the 
Pflugerville Pflag, where she interned for four months, and the 
Austin American-Statesman, where she interned during the summer of 
2003; her portfolio exhibits a wide variety of topics, ranging from 
a feature on a teenage race-car driver to an article on shoplifting 
to a harrowing piece on the fatal heart attack of a fellow student; 
when the school district's budget was cut, she interviewed her 
school superintendent and chief financial officer to compile an 
exclusive story examining the impact of the budget cuts on her 
school; and
	WHEREAS, Each of the four JEA award runners-up receives a 
$2,000 scholarship to a college of his or her choice to pursue a 
degree in journalism; Ms. Bhattarai, who already has been accepted 
at Northwestern University, plans to apply her scholarship funds to 
her tuition at that prestigious school, where she intends to study 
print media; and
	WHEREAS, This talented and dedicated young woman has 
demonstrated a commitment to excellence that will serve her well in 
what promises to be an impressive journalistic career, and it is 
truly a pleasure to honor her at this time; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 78th Texas 
Legislature, 4th Called Session, hereby congratulate Abha 
Bhattarai on her selection as a runner-up in the 2004 student 
Journalist of the Year competition and extend to her best wishes for 
continued success; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be 
prepared for Ms. Bhattarai as an expression of high regard by the 
Texas House of Representatives.