Armstrong's Essay Merits Ward Accolade

Author: Chelsea Coffin

Students, faculty, parents and friends gathered in Gifford Lounge to honor 21 sophomore students at the presentation of the Paul W. Ward '25 Memorial Prize last Friday.

Dorothy Cate Ward '28 established the prize in 1978 in honor of her husband, Paul W. Ward '25, to recognize and award students for exceptional pieces of writing completed during their first year. Paul W. Ward was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the French Legion of Honor for his work as a journalist and diplomatic reporter.

Supported by Ward's family, the prize is judged for qualities that he considered essential to conveying a message effectively to an audience: "Precise and exact usage of words, exact meanings and phrases expressed lucidly and gracefully."

Grace E. Armstrong '06 won the first prize for "Privacy, Piracy and the DMCA," written for Assistant Professor American Civilization & Film and Media Culture Professor Jason Mittell's "America Media Industries" class. Her paper examined the future of intellectual property rights and their enforcement in light of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA).

Throughout the semester, Mittell had been impressed by Armstrong's level of work in a 300-level class, assuming her to be an upperclassman until late in the semester. Mittell chose her essay for her logical explanation of "an idea that is not easy for students, faculty or the government to understand."

In the excerpt of the paper Armstrong read aloud, she argued that although the rights of the intellectual copyright owner should be protected, privacy rights of the individual should not be violated in the process.

Associate Professor of English and Assistant Dean for Instruction Kathleen Skubikowski welcomed the guests and emphasized the role of writing in a liberal arts education, stating, "We as faculty know the value of writing as a tool to communicate."

Skubikowski also acknowledged Associate Professor of Theatre Leger Grindon and Assistant Professor of Writing Hector Vila for judging the nominated essays.

Stewart Professor of English and Environmental Studies John C. Elder read a portion of his essay recently published in Tricycle, a contemporary Buddhist magazine, to open the presentation. His narrative connected a Robert Frost poem, "Dust of Snow," to an afternoon spent in the woods.

Runner-ups included Memory B. Peebles '06 and Kate Elias '06, who were nominated for two papers. Sam W. Harnett '06, Jenny A. Kaplan '06 and April V. Peet '06.5 earned Honorable Mentions.

Other nominees included Gonzalo A. Alonso '06, Sarah R. Applebaum '06, Alison T. Damick '06, Cole Dovey '06, Rachel E. Durfee '06, Rebeccah J. Duvoisin '06, Megan E. Guffin '06, Jessica L. Hallett '06, Mari Kim '06, Clifford S. McDonald '06, Martin Rajcan '06, Anna Spiegel '06, Tara S. Vanacore '06, Jessica P. Van Wagenen '06 and Elizabeth A. Zane '06.

Their paper topics varied from the Gothic and Romanesque influences in a Middlebury church to electricity's arrival in Addison County to the role of fathers --- and everything in between.

Submissions included traditional papers, creative writing and even Weblogs.