Contest to honor student writing

Sponsors of the second annual "Write On!" contest hope to attract over 200 applicants for the writing competition.

Sponsored by the College of Arts and Letters, WMRA (on-campus radio station) and First Year Involvement in the Office of Residence Life, the contest is open to undergraduates and graduates in any discipline, according to Janette Martin, assistant professor in the Writing Program and chairperson of the Write On! committee.

Last year there were 220 applicants, Martin said.

Students can submit a piece of writing that they produced in a class from Spring 2001 to Spring 2002 semesters. Students may enter one piece of writing, and there is no length restriction for submissions.

Martin said she believes that the contest is important because "it rewards students for excellence in writing with a cash reward. It also gets students' ideas made public."

She said she feels that students' ideas will receive large exposure because the nine winning selections will be published in an online collection that will be available by April.

The judges will consist of JMU faculty and students from each undergraduate college of the university.

Other judges include off-campus writing specialists.

Students will compete in three academic levels: freshman/sophomore, junior/senior and graduate.
Papers written for 100- and 200-level courses are considered in the freshman/sophomore category, 300- and 400-level courses for the junior/senior category and graduate classes for the graduate category, according to Martin.

There are three winners for each level: First place winners will receive $200 each, second place will win $100 each and runner-ups, $50. An awards ceremony will be held May 3 to honor the winners. First place winners will read an excerpt from their winning selections at the ceremony.

The deadline for the contest is Feb. 11 at noon. Entry forms can be found in Taylor Hall, Warren Hall, the College Center and online at http://cal.jmu.edu/writing/. Students should submit their work in the basement of Harrison Hall in room C11. Each participant should include a completed form and attach three hard copies along with an assignment sheet for each submission. The winning entries must be available on a disk in Microsoft Word format. The winners will be notified in March.

Senior Jason Bauer, a winner from last year's competition, entered the contest with a paper that he wrote for HIST 439: 20th Century American Society and Culture, taught by Steven Reich.

The paper is titled "First Strike to Fallout: American Culture, Nuclear War and the Movies, 1949-1999." He said he felt that winning "was a really unexpected thrill and a great honor." Bauer said he believes that the contest is important because "communicating with the written word is a crucial skill not only in college, but in most any post-college career."

Bauer is now a writing tutor at the FYI Writing Center operated by ORL, and in October he presented the same paper at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference on Undergraduate Studies at Sweet Briar College in Virginia.

The contest appeals to students with different majors.

Junior Sara Evans said, "I think the contest is a great way to recognize the writing skills of students in various majors. The money prize is an added bonus that the winners will appreciate."