'Expressions' Contest Brings Environmental Awareness
By Timothy Bleasdale
Issue date: 1/22/07 Section: News
The results are in and the winners have been chosen for the 2006 Environmental Expressions contest.
Initially the concept of an environmentally-themed expressions contest came from the Environmental Policy Advisory Committee and the Environmental Literacy work group. The contest was sponsored by the Office of Environmental Policy (OEP) and the EcoHusky student group.
"By holding the Environmental Expressions contest, we were hoping to encourage the creative exploration of issues of sustainability and a general appreciation of the natural world," said Jennifer Sayers, a 6th-semester environmental science and anthropology major and the OEP intern who coordinated the contest.
The contest included a variety of mediums ranging from the visual, with digital photographs from around campus, to the literary, with poetry and inspiring quotations categories.
"The contest is a great idea; this campus needs all the attention to environmental awareness it can get," said Brendan Galvin, a 7th-semester English major and the first place winner of the poetry category. "Any campus that is committed to its ideals of education and environmental awareness should be pursuing such responsible goals."
The Environmental Expressions contest offered cash prizes for the top three placers in each category as well as publication in the Connecticut Audubon Society Magazine and in literature for the Connecticut Forest and Park Association, the oldest non-profit conservation group in the state.
"I was very pleased to hear that I won the photography category of the contest," said Lisa Bitzer, an 8th-semester general studies major and the first place winner of the photography category. "The campus is very beautiful and should get the credit, but I was glad to contribute."
Bitzer's winning entry was a photograph entitled "Sunset at Avery Point." In the poetry category, Brendan Galvin won with his poem entitled "Earth Sonnet." Katie Gherard, a 6th-semester environmental science and ecology and evolutionary biology double major, won first place and third place in the quotations categories with quotes by Edmund Burke and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
"I think the contest was a success because it got people thinking about environmental issues, and quotes especially get you thinking about how environmental concerns are a global issue because people from around the world have things to say about it," said Gherard.
While the Environmental Expressions contest is by far the most creative, it was one of several contest held by the OEP to generate more interest and awareness for conservation and sustainability issues. Other OEP sponsored activities in this vein include recycling of newspapers in the dinning halls and the 2006 UConn Energy and Water Conservation Contest.
"I think it is important for students to understand these environmental issues," said Richard Miller, director of OEP.
"I definitely think the contest should be held again next year, because I'm guessing the pressing environmental issues aren't going to disappear within the next year," said Andrew Sholudko, a 2nd-semester dentistry major and second place winner in the poetry category. "The need to look out for the environment in which we live will be an issue for us, our children, and our children's children. I hope that other programs like this, can work towards generating more environmental awareness, especially in the young people of today."
Sayers says the OEP is hoping to hold the contest again next year with a few improvements.
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