Three UCBA Students Win Contest

This year marked the University of Cincinnati's Fifteenth Annual Student Writing Contest. Students enrolled in English Composition courses throughout the past year were able to submit an essay by no later than April 23rd, 2012 to UC Composition Committee representatives; students at every campus were able to enter. 

All submissions were read by the University Composition Committee who then ranked them according to the quality. The best three were awarded a prize; for first prize there is a cash award of $200, for second prize it is $150, and for third prize it is $100. In addition to these cash prizes, all winners were recognized at an award ceremony on May 9th at Stratford Heights.

There were a variety of categories for students to submit papers. The categories ranged from Preparatory Composition, English Composition 101, English Composition 102, Advanced English Composition 112, and Intermediate Composition 289.

The Committee looked for a paper that represents the best research; this paper is awarded an additional prize. The committee also looks for papers that relate to the University's "Just Community" theme. Finally, the committee reviewed multi-modal submissions.

There were about a hundred total submissions in this year's writing contest. Of all the submissions from around the university, three students from UCBA won prizes during this year's writing contest. Two students from UCBA placed in the English Composition 101 category.

Lisa Miller won first place for her paper titled "Advertising Executive Wanted: Must Be Violent and Seductive." Ronald Burkholder was awarded the second place prize in the same category for his "Gun Violence is a Symptom of a Greater Problem." Another student was awarded the Dunn Award for Writing Excellence as a co-winner. This student is Daniel Taketa for his "Lies for Lives."

The University of Cincinnati "Just Community" initiative sponsored a scholarship prize of $500 for the paper that addresses this concept. "Just Community" is an initiative to create an appreciation for diversity and a sense of pride among the students and faculty throughout the University of Cincinnati.

The guest speaker at the award ceremony was Dr. Kristi Nelson, Senior Vice Provost, who gave the opening speech congratulating the winners on their awards. The feature speaker was Dr. Cheryll Dunn, College of Engineering and Applied Science, who reminded the audience of the importance of writing to communicate with future generations.

"We are proud of the winners and the faculty who helped them to achieve these awards," stated Dr. Brenda Refaei, Composition Director at UCBA.