Contest Rules

Students Face Up To The Nation's Finances

Fall 2009 Written & Multimedia Essay Contest

Thanks to all who entered the third and final round of the Students Face Up to the Nation's Finances student contest for essays and multimedia presentations on the nation's federal budget crisis and what should be done about it.

This semester's winners are:

Best written essay by a college student:

"Means-Testing Social Security" by Zachary Skaggs of American University, in Washington, D.C.

Best multimedia essay by a college student:

"It's Up To Us" by Kelsey Ryan, Shane Wilson, & Kellen Jenkins of Emporia State University, in Emporia, Kansas

High School division:

The judges have determined that no high school prize will be awarded in this final round of the contest.

Each contest participant may submit only one entry.

Entries co-created by more than one author are allowed; all authors must be individually eligible to enter the contest; and all authors must be listed when the entry is submitted to FacingUp.org.

All students entering this contest – college or high school - must reside in the United States or in U.S. territories or possessions, and must be over the age of 13. Eligibility of prospective winners will be verified before the award of any prizes. Employees of Public Agenda, the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, the University of Virginia, and their families are not eligible. Previous winners are not eligible.

College students are eligible to participate if they are currently enrolled in a participating college or university and have participated in Students Face Up to the Nation's Finances in a course or in an event on your campus.

High school students are eligible to participate if they are currently enrolled in a participating school and have participated in any part of the Students Face Up to the Nation's Finances (http://www.facingup.org/students) curriculum or the University of Virginia's Youth Leadership Initiative (http://www.youthleadership.net) in a course or in an event relating to the federal budget deficit or national debt.

Older students who have returned to school to earn their college or high school diplomas are also eligible to enter, so long as they are enrolled in classes or attended an event focused on the federal budget or national debt as part of the Students Face Up to the Nation's Finances curriculum or the University of Virginia's Youth Leadership Initiative.

Special note to students age 14 through 17: as minors, you cannot enter or become a registered user of this web site unless you have the permission of a parent or legal guardian, or are an emancipated minor, as FacingUp.org does not wish to collect information about children under the age of 14. By registering with our web site and submitting your entry, you are pledging that you do have approval to use this web site, enter the contest, and have your name, age, grade and school name announced on the web, in news releases and elsewhere in the event that you are a winner of the contest. If your entry is chosen as a potential winner, you will be required to prove that you have the permission of a parent or guardian; if you cannot provide this proof, your entry will be disqualified.

To enter this contest, you must first become a registered user of FacingUp.org. By registering, you affirm that you are either at least 14 years old, or an emancipated minor, or possess legal parental or guardian consent to use this site and enter this contest, and are fully able and competent to enter into the terms, conditions, obligations, affirmations, representations and warranties set for in this Agreement, and to abide by and comply with these Policies.

 

Imagine you are a public policymaker, government advisor, or an opinion columnist. What do you think about the federal budget deficit and national debt, and what do you think should be done about this problem?

Make your voice heard and submit your thoughts as part of a national contest (as well as for an assignment in your class). Please write a short essay or create a video or other multimedia presentation (“Entry”) addressing any or all of these questions:

• Please discuss the causes and potential consequences of growing national debt for America and your generation.
• What are some reforms that you would support in order to reduce debt and restore a healthier economic future for the United States?

In addition to being part of a national competition with four prizes of $500 each awarded at the end of the semester, your work may be posted on Public Agenda's website, featured on YouTube, and elsewhere, republished in other forms, and brought to the attention of national leaders and news media.

Answer the contest questions in an essay of between 750 and 1,000 words. The word count includes articles (the, and, a).

• Quotes and references must be clearly marked throughout the essay and properly cited. (These are not included in the word count.)
• Write the essay in English and address the contest topic. Essays on other topics will be disqualified.

To submit an essay to the contest you must complete the following steps:

• Register for a user account on FacingUp.org and follow the steps in the confirmation email.
• To submit your essay, click on the "Student Essay" link on http://www.facingup.org/enter-the-contest and enter the requested information. You will be asked to provide your name, university, phone number and title of your Entry. Then copy and paste your essay into the “Essay text” field. Finish by clicking the "Submit" button.

Answer the contest questions using a multimedia format. Your answer could be in the form of a web site you create, or it could be in the form of video, a slide show, Flash files, photos or other images, audio, or even a song. Video and audio recordings must be at least two minutes long and no more than five minutes long.

• Your entry must be in English and must address the contest topic. Entries on other topics will be disqualified.
• The total file size of your entry may not exceed 2 MB.

To submit a multimedia project to the contest you must complete the following steps:

• Register for a user account on FacingUp.org and follow the steps in the confirmation e-mail.

Then follow these steps to upload your entry to FacingUp.org, depending on the media format you have chosen:

For video submissions:

• You have to register on YouTube to submit a video project. After you've registered on YouTube, upload your video to your account. Click the "Upload" button in the upper-right-hand corner of any YouTube page. Enter Title, Description, Tags, and Category information about your video. Set your video to Public. Click the "Upload a Video..." button and in the next window, click the "Browse" button to browse for the video file. Select the file you want to upload and click the "Upload Video" button. It can take from a couple minutes to an hour for your video to upload to YouTube.
• After you have uploaded your video on YouTube, you must return to FacingUp.org to submit your Entry. Click on the "Multimedia" link on http://facingup.org/submit-your-ideas and enter the requested information. You will be asked to provide your name, university, phone number and title of your Entry. Then paste the YouTube URL of your Entry into the “Video URL” field. Finish by clicking the "Submit" button.

For audio submissions:

• You have to register on podOmatic to submit an audio project. After registering, click the "Post an episode button" on your profile page, or directly at http://www.podomatic.com/podcast/post. Follow the podOmatic instructions to create or upload an audio file.
• After you have uploaded your Entry on podOmatic, you must return to FacingUp.org to submit your Entry. Click on the "Multimedia" link on http://facingup.org/submit-your-ideas and enter the requested information. You will be asked to provide your name, university, phone number and title of your Entry. Then paste the podOmatic URL of your Entry into the “Audio URL” field. Finish by clicking the "Submit" button.

For image submissions:

• Go to FacingUp.org to submit your Entry. Click on the "Multimedia" link on http://facingup.org/submit-your-ideas and enter the requested information. You will be asked to provide your name, university, phone number and title of your Entry. Then click the "Browse" button on the “Upload a new image” field in the "Image" section to browse for the file. Click “Upload” to send your file to our server and finish by clicking the "Submit" button.

For Flash submissions:

• Go to FacingUp.org to submit your Entry. Click on the "Multimedia" link on http://facingup.org/submit-your-ideas and enter the requested information. You will be asked to provide your name, university, phone number and title of your Entry. Then click the "Browse" button on the “Attach new file” field in the "Flash" section to browse for the file. Click “Upload” to send your file to our server and finish by clicking the "Submit" button.

There are a total of four prizes of $500 each: Best Written Essay by a college student; Best Multimedia Essay by a college student; Best Written Essay by a high school student; and Best Multimedia Essay by a high school student. There are age limits and special rules affecting minors: click here for more on whether you are eligible to enter the contest.

Winners will be featured on FacingUp.org and possibly other websites. The prize in each category is $500. Winners are solely responsible for all federal, state and local taxes as well as all other costs or fees associated with acceptance and/or use of a prize not specified herein as being awarded and will receive an IRS Form 1099 for the value of their prize. Prizes are awarded "as is" with no warranty or guarantee, either express or implied. Winner may not substitute, assign or transfer prize, but Public Agenda reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to substitute prize (or portion thereof) with one of comparable or greater value. All prize details are at Public Agenda’s sole discretion.

Contest entries will be displayed on FacingUp.org beginning on Dec. 11, 2009, and students will be able to comment on each other's entries. Prize winners are to be determined based solely on the decision of a panel of judges at Public Agenda. All eligible entries received will be judged by qualified judges using the following criteria to determine the winners:

• originality,
• clarity,
• and the use of thoughtful and concrete proposals.

Potential winners will each be notified by e-mail, phone and/or mail. If Public Agenda has been unable to contact the winner in three attempts, he/she may be disqualified. In the event it is determined that a potential winner has not complied with these Official Rules, has made false statements or prize notification is returned as undeliverable, the potential winner will be disqualified. If a potential winner is disqualified for any reason, at Public Agenda’s discretion, the Finalist ranked second-highest by the jury or with the next highest number of eligible votes may be declared the alternate winner.

By submitting an Entry, contestant hereby grants permission for his/her Entry to be posted on any of Public Agenda’s websites and publications for viewing by visitors to the website and as otherwise used as set forth in these Official Rules.

Entry must be the original work of the contestant(s), may not have been previously published, may not have won previous awards, and must not infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy, publicity or other intellectual property or other rights of any person or entity. If the Entry contains any material or elements that are not owned by the contestant and/or which are subject to the rights of third parties, the contestant is responsible for obtaining, prior to submission of the Entry, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit the use and exhibition of the Entry by Public Agenda in the manner set forth in these Official Rules, including, without limitation, name and likeness permissions from any person who appears in or is identifiable in the Entry. By submitting an Entry, contestant warrants and represents that he/she and any persons appearing or who are identifiable in the Entry consents to the submission and use of the Entry in the Contest, and to their posting on any of Public Agenda’s websites and as otherwise set forth in these Official Rules.

Entries must comply with the following content guidelines to be eligible:

• If any persons age 13 or younger appear in your entry, you affirm, represent and/or warrant that you have obtained the consent of each person's parent or legal guardian for these minors to appear in your entry;
• Content may not promote alcohol, illegal drugs, tobacco, firearms/weapons (or the use of any of the foregoing), any activities that may appear unsafe or dangerous, or any particular political agenda or message;
• Content may not be obscene or offensive, endorse any form of hate or hate group;
• Content may not contain trademarks, logos or trade dress (such as distinctive packaging or building exteriors/interiors) owned by others, or advertise or promote any brand or product of any kind, without permission, or contain any personal identification, such as license plate numbers, personal names, e-mail addresses or street addresses;
• Content may not contain copyrighted materials owned by others (including music, photographs, sculptures, paintings and other works of art or images published on or in websites, television, movies or other media) without permission;
• Content may not contain materials embodying the names, likenesses, photographs, or other indicia identifying any person, living or dead, without permission;
• Content may not communicate messages or images inconsistent with the positive images and/or goodwill to which Public Agenda wishes to associate; and
• Content may not depict and may not itself be in violation of any law or otherwise.

Public Agenda reserves the right to disqualify any entry for any reason, in its sole and absolute discretion.

Mass Entries, and comments generated by a script, macro or use of automated devices will, at Public Agenda’s sole discretion, be disqualified. Public Agenda reserves the right to modify, suspend or terminate the Contest in the event it becomes infected by a computer virus or is otherwise technically impaired, and to cancel or suspend the Contest in its entirety should tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or other causes corrupt the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper play of the Contest and, if terminated, at Public Agenda’s discretion, determine the winner using all non-suspect, eligible Entries received up to time of cancellation using the judging procedure outlined above. Public Agenda reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual (and void his/her entry) it finds to be tampering with the Entry process or the operation of this Contest or website, intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other contestant, Public Agenda or to otherwise be acting in violation of these Official Rules. Public Agenda also reserves the right to not choose a winner in any particular category, if all entries received in that category are deemed unworthy of a prize.

For any questions about the contest, please email support@facingup.org.