Spectrum - Volume 19 Issue 30 May 1, 1997 - Winner named in student essay contest

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Winner named in student essay contest

By Catherine Doss

Spectrum Volume 19 Issue 30 - May 1, 1997

A communication studies major has received first-place honors in a student global-education essay contest sponsored by Virginia Tech's University Office for International Programs (UOIP).

A panel of faculty judges selected the essay by Robert M. Ballenger, a senior from Coopersburg, Pa., as the best among approximately 40 entries in the competition.

The second-place award went to Lan H. Quach, a master's-degree candidate in education, with Takayoshi Jose Yamagiwa, a master's-degree candidate in agricultural and applied economics taking third place.

Honorable mention awards went to Ross Astoria, undergraduate, math and English major; Ellen Bennett, senior, international studies and liberal arts and science major; David Fred McBagonluri, graduate research assistant, engineering science and mechanics; Mandi Jo Montgomery, senior, agricultural and applied economics major; Monica Murphy, junior, French and biology major; John Riley, undergraduate, civil engineering and Spanish major; and Michele Nicole Williamson, senior, psychology major.

First-, second-, and third-place winners will receive cash prizes.

Judges for the contest included Chris Eustis, Tom Howard, Jim Littlefield, Patrick Liverpool, Sue Magliaro, and Herb Stoevener. Patrick Carlton, director of international education and outreach, chaired the committee that judged the essays.

"The high caliber of essays submitted reflected the students' deep awareness of, and commitment to, the need for substantive global focus and content in the educational processes at Virginia Tech," said Patrick Liverpool, vice provost for international programs.

The UOIP will publish a monograph containing the winning essays later this spring.