Ben Schlitter, Hays graduate student in the Fort Hays State University Art Department, won first place for a Web site design in the University and College Designers' Association student design competition.

The award includes $1,500, a one-year student membership to UCDA, free registration for the 35th annual UCDA Conference in SanDiego, CA, and up to $1,200 for travel expenses.

Schlitter's design can be seen at http://www.benschlitter.com/art/.

Judging for the 2004-2005 student competition was conducted by a committee of writers, graphic and interactive media designers at Stamats Communications Inc. Entries were judged on six criteria: initial impact, useability (Web), readability (print), target market appropriateness, quality of detail, originality of design and originality of concept. Each entry was given a score of 1-5 on each criterion from each judge. The point totals were then tallied, giving each entry a total score.

This was the first year that UCDA offered a student competition.