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GREENSBURG, PA- ��������Ƶ College recently announced the recipients of the 2001 Arthur Rooney Jr. Scholarship Awards. Shelley Bates of Los Gatos, CA submitted an excerpt from her romance novel, Mallory at Midnight, and Ryan Michael Williams of Lacey, WA submitted his short horror story, "Spoiled." Each received a $500 scholarship. "The scholarship was an honor I wasn't expecting, but am very grateful for,” Bates said. “��������Ƶ has been amazingly supportive of the writers in its popular fiction program, and the scholarship is another example of going above and beyond to help us succeed. The piece I submitted for the scholarship is currently on an editor's desk at Harlequin Books in Toronto. I'm hoping to have a response from them by late summer." Williams added, "The Rooney scholarship helps. Not only because it helps me pay for a program that is improving my skills, but because it provides encouragement to keep going.” According to Dr. Lee Tobin McClain, director of the writing popular fiction graduate program, “Thanks to the generosity of Pittsburgh writer and Steelers magnate Arthur Rooney, Jr., each Spring ��������Ƶ College is able to offer two $500 scholarships for graduate writing students who plan to enroll in a Summer residency. The scholarships are intended to encourage student efforts toward professional publication. They will be awarded to students submitting unsolicited fiction to print (not on-line) publishers, anthologies, or magazines between December and March annually. The Master of Arts in Writing Popular Fiction at ��������Ƶ is one of the only programs in the country that teaches writers to produce the fiction that sells, that reaches a wide audience. Dr. McClain added, “��������Ƶ’s program is a flexible, intensive-residency format that allows a student to earn a Master's Degree while working full-time or caring for a family. One-on-one mentoring by established writers enables each student to develop a writing project in an area of choice. On-line contact with other participants ensures that students become part of a writing community and that they receive varied commentary on their work-in-progress. Week-long residencies, twice each year, inform and enliven the writing experience, bringing students together on ��������Ƶ's campus to learn the basics and complexities of popular fiction. Guest writers of regional and national fame add extra impact to the residency experience.” For more information on the Rooney Scholarship, please contact Dr. Lee Tobin McClain, director of the writing popular fiction graduate program, at 724-830-1040 or mcclain@setonhill.edu. For more information on the writing popular fiction graduate degree program, please contact Sadie Lopez Alicea in the graduate and adult studies office at 724-838-4283 or alicea@setonhill.edu.