UI senior and Daily Iowan reporter Holly Hines won 11th place in the Feature Writing competition of the 2009-10 Hearst Journalism Awards Program. She went up against almost 150 entrants from 75 journalism schools across the country.

Her story, which ran in the Oct. 28 issue of the DI, featured Ben Alexander, a former UI student who fought Internet addiction through a unique recovery program.

For the story, she traveled to Alexander’s home in Colorado and interviewed a bevvy of external sources. Hines, who only recently became interested in journalism, plans to stay at the UI for another year to pursue a degree in the field.

“It’s really exciting,” she said. “I’m really happy about it. It’s exciting to have success this early.”

— by Sam Lane