Awards & Scholarships
for Agriculture & Life Sciences Majors Only
Class of 1886 Memorial Fund
Presented in the spring term
Description: A contest in original public speaking. Substance, structure, style and delivery are considered. (See Woodford Fund Public Speaking Prize for the Fall)
Criteria: Students must be undergraduates enrolled in Communication 201 (Oral communication).
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Class of 1894 Memorial Fund
Presented in the fall term
Description: Provides awards to undergraduates in debate held at a public contest. Prizes are awarded to the most effective debaters or debate team, account being taken of thought, expression and delivery.
Criteria: Must be an undergraduate and a member of the Cornell Forensics Team, and enrolled in Communication 203 (Argumentation and Debate).
To Apply: Students participate in a two-day debate tournament debating a policy topic for money prizes. Awards are presented to novices as well as experienced debaters.
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Eastman - Rice Award
Presented in the spring term
Description: This contest is open to undergraduate students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The topics must pertain to agriculture and country life and be persuasive in nature. An elimination and a final contest are held in the spring.
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Price Award
Presented in the fall term
Description: Preference given to student interested in dairy cattle management (major could be an AN SCI or COMM). Donor was editor of the Guernsey Breeder's Journal.
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Schwartz Award
Undergraduate students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are invited to submit original manuscripts for the Alfred N. Schwartz Prize. The award promotes excellence in agricultural journalism.
Entries must consider agricultural topics or topics that relate directly and explicitly to agriculture, agribusiness, or the social and scientific implications of advances in agriculture. Accurate and reliable content, as well as general interest and readability, are criteria. Your entry should be written for the general reader, one who may or may not have special expertise in the subject matter. Technical or scientific articles written for publication in academic journals are not considered for this prize. Prize winning articles may include scientific and technical material presented for non-academic readers, listeners, or viewers.
Acceptable entries include original manuscripts suitable for publication as a feature in a newspaper or magazine. Audio tapes, scripts, or video tapes suitable for broadcast on radio or TV are equally acceptable. Information that is written for posting on a computer network would also receive full consideration. Previously published or broadcast material is welcomed.
To enter: Submit your entry in person, in an envelope, to Lynn Alve, 336 Kennedy Hall.
Your entry envelope should include your manuscript, a Cornell transcript, and a cover letter that describes how you came to write the article. Include the name of a faculty member who can verify the factual accuracy of the content.
Three prizes will be awarded to entrants who display excellence in agricultural journalism. First prize is $800; second prize is $700; and third prize is $600.
For more information, please contact Linda Van Buskirk at lpv1@cornell.edu
Tips for writing a winning entry: Remember, this prize is for journalism - so write a very focused, lively piece based on original reporting and research. Winning entries tend to have the following strengths:
A clear focus on a specific topic: make a specific, clear connection to agricultural practices, to the economics of agriculture, or to the human dimensions of working in agriculture.
Sometimes it's hard to find the agricultural focus, but here's an example: an article on designing golf courses or playing golf wouldn't fit; an article on growing turf grass designed for use on golf courses would fit. Similarly, an article on how new varieties of turf grass are being adopted by the turf grass growers and even how they are being marketed would be of interest.
Good journalism: do interviews, talk to people involved, get the voice of the people involved in the agricultural practice you are writing about.
The winning entries have the direct and personal touch that you will find in good newspaper and magazine articles. Notice how journalists include direct quotations from the people they are writing about whenever they can. Or they state openly that the person from whom they sought comments declined to answer.
More good journalism: get all sides of the story.
Every story has AT LEAST two sides and very probably more.
Good prose style: write precisely and lucidly.
Concise, straight forward writing will please the judges.
Entries that are routinely eliminated include academic papers and formal reports.
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Stansky Award
Description: The Stansky Prize Contest is held at the Class of 1894 two-day debate contest (see above). The first and second place winner of this contest receive the awards which are used to support their and their team members' travel and expenses to one of the national tournaments or other speech and debate tournaments.
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Woodford Fund
Presented in the fall term
Description: A contest in original public speaking. Substance, structure, style and delivery are considered. (See Class of 1886 Memorial Fund for the Spring)
Criteria: Students must be undergraduates enrolled in Communication 201(Oral communication).
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