Do you prefer energy drinks or coffee for an energy boost?

A Talk Back session called “Are Energy Drinks the New Coffee for College Students?” will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 16 in the Payne/Halverson Lobby.

Multicultural Education and Resource Center student employees host Talk Back sessions. At these sessions, controversial topics are addressed and casual conversation occurs between NMU students.

“I was wondering if students are switching from coffee to energy drinks and what the student opinion is,” said Star Murray, graduate assistant for MERC.

At this particular session, the conversation piece is going to be on which college students prefer: coffee or energy drinks?

“There will be snacks, coffee, cookies and juice,” Murray said.

For more information on this event, contact Star Murray at (906) 227-1554 or [email protected].

— Heidi Robitaille

The North Wind wins award

The North Wind received the 2011 Online Pacemaker Award given by the Associated Collegiate Press on Oct. 29.

The award was presented to The North Wind for recognition of achievement in a college online publication. It was a national contest and 49 finalists were selected out of 251 entries. A group of professional judges from the Center for Investigative Reporting selected the finalists.

The finalists were divided into four categories based on the size of the school’s enrollment. The North Wind was entered for the category of newspapers with enrollment of 5,001 to 10,000 students.

The sites were judged on content/coverage, breaking news, site design, interactivity, rich media and writing/editing. The Online Pacemaker winners were announced at the Associated Collegiate Press National College Media Convention in Orlando, Fla. Oct. 29.

Several former and current North Wind staff members have contributed to the development of the website.

— Shaina James