Sixteen students have been chosen as the 1999 Associated Press Interns. The summer internship program, is open to students of Black, Latino, Asian, and Native American decent, who are either juniors, seniors, or in graduate school. The finalist were selec

By: Vernelle Dorvil

Listed below are the names of the finalist, the Universities attended, and the AP's host bureau location where they will undergo their internships: Ahn-Mihn Le, University of California, Los Angeles; Alex Lyda, Northwestern University, Chicago; Cassie Chew, Northwestern University, Charleston, W.Va.; Catherine Tsai, Northwestern University, Detroit; Christopher Kahn, Arizona State, Phoenix; David Ho, Brooklyn College, Washington, D.C.; Gerald Abejo, University of Iowa, Indianapolis; Harry Mok, University of California at Berkeley, San Francisco; Indraneel Sur, Yale, Baltimore; Joy Russell-Perez, Columbia, New York City; Kai-Yui Anny Kuo, Northwestern University, Albany; Melanie Coffee, University of Missouri, St. Louis; Rebecca Lopez, New Mexico State, Albuquerque; Stephen Holder, Florida International, Dallas; Jane Hwang, University of Missouri, Chicago-Photos; and Karen Gaudette, University of Washington, Seattle.

The first 1998 ICIJ Award for Outstanding International Investigative Reporting was awarded to Southeast Asia journalist, Nate Thayer, from the Far Eastern Economic Review, for his reports on the Khmer Rogue, their leader Pol Pot, and the millions of Cambodians murdered under his regime. As part of the award, Thayer received an engraved crystal obelisk, and a check for $20,000 which was presented to him during the inaugural conference of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalist at Harvard University. Thayer spent years in the Cambodian jungle in his quest for first hand knowledge of the Khmer Rouge. He was also one of the only Westerners allowed to interview Pol Pot at length, and the only member of the press allowed to witness his trial. During a commendation statement at the conference banquet, the judges stated that Thayer had ""illuminated a page in history that would have been lost to the world ?"" had it not been for his bravery and persistence for the truth.

The Knight Science Journalism Fellows for the 1999-2000 academic year, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, were awarded to nine journalist who cover science, medicine, and environment. The honorees who represent the United States, India, Korea, and Switzerland, are journalists who write for newspapers, the WEB, science magazines, and produce documentaries for television.
They will devote one full academic year of study at MIT. The fellows are: David Chandler, science writer, The Boston Globe; W. Wayt Gibbs, senior writer, Scientific American magazine; Karen Hopkin, free-lance writer; Ganapati S. Mudur, science writer, The Telegraph, Calcutta; Melissa Schorr, staff writer, the Las Vegas (Nev.) Sun; Andreas Schriber, producer and editor, Swiss Television DRS, Zurich; Shin DongHo, chief science reporter, Hankyoreh Shinmun, Seoul; Peter Spotts, science and technology correspondent, The Christian Science Monitor, Boston; and David Talbot, reporter, The Boston Herald.

The 1998 Worth Bingham Prize for investigative reporting went to Gardiner Harris and R.G. Dunlop of The Courier-Journal for their series of 1998 articles, ""Dust, Deception and Death"" which revealed the widespread cheating on coal-dust tests in Kentucky and other states. Both reporters will also share a $10,000 prize. The award was presented by President Clinton at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington on May 1.
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