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Volume
II
Issue 11 March 2000 |
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The Young Scholars Contest: Young Writers Can Win a Scholarship, Recognition, and Publication Research by Kim Billingsley New York State high school students interested in research and writing may want to consider competing in the Young Scholars Contest. Applicants are asked to submit an analytical essay, 10-15 pages long, with detailed endnotes and an annotated bibliography. The rules note that at least some of the sources must not be from the Internet, and caution the young scholars to examine critically any information they find on the Internet, to determine if it is reliable. This year's Young Scholars Contest will accept submissions until 1 April 2000. Eligibility is limited to New York State residents attending high school in New York State. Sponsored by the New York Council on the Humanities, the first prize is a $ 5,000 college scholarship, with additional prizes of $ 3,000, $ 2,000 and $ 500. The first-prize essay will be published in the Council's quarterly periodical, culturefront, and an awards banquet this spring will honor all the contest winners. The general topic for this year's contest is A Momentous Decision - addressing either an actual event, or one from literature. Examples of appropriate subjects include: Branch Rickey's decision to hire Jackie Robinson, President Nixon's decision to visit China, and Abraham's decision to slay his son Isaac. The contest wants students to conduct extensive research, with an emphasis on primary sources - library research, interviews, personal correspondence. Applicants must also write convincingly on the significance of the decision made. Three winning essays from previous years' Young Scholars Contest (on a different general topic) are posted online, for reference. One, about Linus Pauling, analyzes his efforts crusading for world peace, and how they related to his work in science and medicine. Another essay, about former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, applauds his career as a pediatric surgeon, his firmness of purpose, and loyalty to his beliefs. A third looks affectionately at Charles Kuralt, the traveling correspondent for television who enjoyed meeting everyday people and discovering what about them was admirable and unique. Resources: The site for further information on the New York State contest is http://www.culturefront.org/culturefront/nych/young_scholars.html For a listing with links to all the State Humanities Councils in the US - 56 of them, including American Samoa, Guam, Washington DC, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands - consult http://www.neh.fed.us/state/states.html
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