SUNY Oswego - Contest Rules

ORI Contest Rules for 2008-2009

The Oswego Reading Initiative is sponsoring its annual contest for first year (freshman only) students.The winner will receive a free semester’s worth of textbooks at the College Store.There will also be a $200 College Store Certificate 2nd place award and $100 College Store Certificate 3rd place award. To be eligible, simply read the required 2008 ORI selection, Field Notes from a Catastrophe by Elizabeth Kolbert, and follow these instructions:

You may either write an essay or utilize another artistic medium to answer one of the following questions:

In what specific ways does the author convince and/or fail to convince the reader that global climate change is likely to have catastrophic consequences?
What do you think the biggest social and economic challenges will be to finding viable solutions to dramatic climate change? Can you think of a strategy from the book or elsewhere that might help in overcoming one or more of these challenges?
Going “green” is now popular in the media. However, many companies are advertising “green” products with little to substantiate the claim. How might this be dealt with? Should standards be defined, and if so, who should do it, and what might the criteria be? What are some of the potential issues in trying to ensure consumers are not misled by false claims and advertising?

SUBMISSIONS

Pay attention to the specific questions that appear under the general question you have chosen. All entries will be judged for quality, depth, complexity and originality of thought (and, where appropriate, for writing ability). The contest judges will use the rubric on the opposite page to determine finalists.

ESSAYS

Essays should:

Be 1,500 to 2,000 words
Be double-spaced
Have margins of approximately one inch on all sides of each page.

Careful attention should be paid to grammar, sentence construction, and spelling. Submit your essay as an email attachment.

ARTISTIC MEDIA

You may use the artistic medium of your choice (e.g., film, graphic design, music, photography, sculpture, painting, collage, dramatic performance, etc.)

All essays should be submitted to:

c/o Ms. Shelly St. John, 307 Culkin Hall #26, SUNY Oswego 13126

315.312.2275 stjohn@oswego.edu

artistic media entries should be submitted to:

Dr. Laurene Buckley, Tyler Art Gallery, 126 Tyler Hall #7, SUNY Oswego, 13126

315.312.3012 lbuckley@oswego.edu

Note: In order to arrangedelivery of your submission, 
contact Dr. Buckley via telephone or email, 
prior to November 7, 2008. 
 
All entries must be submitted by Friday, November 7, 2008
in order to be considered for the award. 
 
Rubric
Criteria: 4-Excellent 3-Good 2-Satisfactory 1- Unsatisfactory
Creativity Presents answer to question in a truly unique, inventive manner. Presents answer to question in a somewhat unique way. Presents answer in a standard way. Lacks originality. Doesn’t present answer in original manner. “It’s been done.”
Addresses question being asked and 
connects to
book. Real, evident answer to question. Obvious connection. Answer to question there, but no strong connection to book. Answer to question is vague. Doesn’t show much understanding of the question. No answer to question evident.
Aesthetics Artistic form is excellent. Artistic form is good. Artistic form is average. Artistic form is poor.
Aesthetics
(essays only) Writing is excellent. Essay is well written. Writing is average. Essay is poorly written.
Appeals to large audience Obvious appeal to students, staff, faculty. Will get people talking. Appeal is good. Isn’t very provocative to students, staff, faculty. Limited audience. Doesn’t appeal to audience. Inappropriate.