Judith Rabensteiner, a Gonzaga University senior, has received the Justice C. Horowitz Merit Award for $1,500 from the Saul and Dayee G. Haas Foundation for the 1995-96 school year. The broadcasting major was recognized for her academic achievement, character and potential to contribute to the betterment of the field of communications.

Gonzaga University was ranked the third best regional university in the West by U.S. News & World Report’s annual Best Colleges issue. That’s up from last year’s No. 5 position, marking the eighth time in the past 11 years that Gonzaga has been included in the publication.

In a new category, colleges were ranked in terms of their commitment to teaching. In recognition of public concern about the quality of the nation’s higher-education teaching, U.S. News this year included a category that showed strength in teaching based on a survey of college presidents, provosts and deans of admissions.

Whitworth College was rated 12th. The rankings appeared in the Sept. 18 issue of U.S. News & World Report.

, DataTimes