Kathy Anderson, journalism adviser for the University of Chicago

I have had hundreds of conversations with students, but I still remember the first one I had with Kat Glass nearly four years ago. She said she loved breaking news and deadlines! At the time, she was only a first-year student, but already knew she wanted to focus on journalism and intuitively knew about the adrenaline rush of breaking news. She has gone about learning the journalism business in the same organized, thoughtful and friendly way that she handles the pressures and rigors of the University of Chicago.

She is an aggressive reporter and a fine writer. She has sought and won major internships every summer, including The Time-Picayune in New Orleans and Religion News Service, a national wire in Washington, D.C. At The Times-Picayune she pitched and wrote stories about the continued recovery efforts in the post-Katrina era.

Kat is not only a good journalist. She is a leader. She started writing for the Chicago Maroon, the university’s student newspaper, within two weeks of arriving on campus as a first-year student. By the end of that year, she was promoted to news editor. As a news editor, she supervised a staff of 50, edited their work and trained new reporters. Last spring she was elected by her peers to be editor-in-chief. Under her leadership the Chicago Maroon won the highest honor from the Associated Collegiate Press: the Newspaper Pacemaker Award for 2007.

Kevin Eckstrom, editor for the Religion News Service

Kat is one of the hardest-working reporters I’ve ever come across. She doggedly pursues a story until she has the entire story, with every relevant voice, every nuance, every piece of useful context.

When she was with us, she was doing not one but two journalism internships. That’s the kind of initiative that’s going to take her places, and any publication would be lucky to have her on staff. I wish I could get that kind of energy and enthusiasm out of my veteran reporters most days. She’s at her best when she’s got a full plate, and as soon as something drops off that plate, she’s looking for something else to put in its place.

Justin Sink, editor-in-chief for The Chicago Maroon

Earlier this year, a graduate student was murdered just south of our campus. It was, as one might expect, a tragedy that shook the University, but, at the same time, I think one of all of our proudest days at the Maroon. Kat, who was serving as editor-in-chief, made sure that not a single stone was left unturned, even with such a small reporting window before deadline -- through her own reporting, coordination, and innovation, we went to press with a newspaper that covered every conceivable angle of the story, from the details of the crime to University response to community reaction. Our articles the next morning were better reported and more comprehensive than coverage in city papers that dedicated teams of reporters, and that's a huge testament to her leadership and judgment.

Beth Cope, features editor for The Northwest, Georgetown, Dupont and Foggy Bottom Current Newspapers

What makes Kat stand out from other college journalists is her maturity. Kat has helped out numerous times on our production night, a tedious endeavor that stretches into the wee hours. Since we're a small operation, the entire newsroom stays to copyedit the pages and help lay out the paper. It's tiring, and the regular reporters tend to complain a little, or slump a bit in their seats, as the night wears on. But Kat never did. Even at 1 a.m., she would attack each page as though nothing on it had been read before, marking every little irregularity she could find.

Sometimes we would joke with her about her attention to detail and focus on grammar, and she would admit to being a bit of a stickler. It's a fabulous quality for a journalist.

Source | Nola.com
It all happened so fast. They were traveling as a convoy -- one band, eight musicians, three cars. Rob Landry and Mike Calabrese were pulling up the rear in a 14-year-old Honda Prelude, saxophones, guitar, bass, trombone, trumpet, bass amp and guitar amp crammed together like Tetris pieces in the back seat.

Source | Nola.com
At first, Peter didn't realize what he was painting. He covered the sheet of black paper with jagged brush strokes of red and white and drew a defined, barred window in the corner with yellow light coming through.

Source | The Chicago Maroon
It was more than the money that motivated Jen Littlefield to donate her eggs. For Littlefield, a fourth-year in the College, undergoing the procedure was a way of "giving back."