(AUSTIN) — Senator Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, received 21 awards recently in a wide variety of media categories in the Press Women of Texas (PWT) 2010 Communications Contest. The award winners include her keynote speech to the Two-Year College English Association-Southwest (TYCA-SW), her tribute to philanthropists Joe and Teresa Lozano Long, newspaper editorials promoting respectful language and government transparency, news releases regarding legislation, her annual newsletter and a handbook.

Founded in 1893, PWT champions First Amendment rights, promotes awareness of professional standards in journalism and communications and provides valuable resources for women working in the communications arena.

Senator Zaffirini's article, Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Eliminating Child Abuse in Our Community, won first place in the feature story daily newspaper category, and her keynote speech to TYCA-SW titled Panda, iPads and Punctuation: Promoting Traditional Writing in an Anything Goes World won first place in the speech category. A tribute speech titled The Greatest Gifts: A Tribute to Joe and Teresa Lozano Long, won second place in the same category.

Another first place winner was Senator Judith Zaffirini Reports to the Families of District 21, an annual newsletter highlighting Senator Zaffirini's work in the Texas Senate. Informative articles regarding health care and human services legislation won first place, and news releases regarding redistricting and higher education issues won second. Two editorials, Let the sun shine in: Promoting open government in Texas and It's time to purge hurtful R-word from our speech, won second place in the personal opinion column category.

"Winning with 21 of 22 entries reflects my commitment to using a variety of media to keep my constituents informed," Senator Zaffirini said. "We communicate not only interpersonally, but also via all available news and social media. Constituents can 'friend' me on Facebook or register for my tweets. Equally important, my staff and I respond to every letter, email and telephone call."

The senator has won more than 650 awards for her professional and public service work, including more than 120 for communication projects. Second in seniority in the 31-member Texas Senate, she is the namesake of United ISD's Senator Judith Zaffirini Elementary School, Laredo Community College's Senator Judith Zaffirini Library, Lake Casa Blanca International State Park's Senator Judith Zaffirini Road and Edinburg's Judith Zaffirini Residential Treatment Center that focuses on fighting drug addiction.

SENATOR JUDITH ZAFFIRINI, D-LAREDO, is second in seniority in the Texas Senate. A strong communicator in the legislature and in her district, Senator Zaffirini believes strongly in keeping her constituents informed.

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