Letters to Lucy Essay COMPETITION Official Rules
DEADLINE EXTENDED TO DECEMBER 31, 2011!
Sponsor: Institute of Human Origins and BecomingHuman.org
c/o Kollman & Saucier PA
The Business Law Building
1823 York Road,
Timonium MD 21093-5119
PLEASE CAREFULLY READ ALL RULES BEFORE SUBMITTING YOUR ENTRY
1. Who is Eligible: The Letters to Lucy Essay Competition (Contest) sponsored by the Institute of Human Origins and BecomingHuman.org (Sponsor) is open to: (1) legal and current residents of Maricopa County, Arizona enrolled in grades three through five, as of August 15, 2011 or later, at a public, private, parochial or home school (Elementary Level Contestants), (2) legal and current residents of the fifty United States or District of Columbia enrolled in grades six through eight, as of August 15, 2011 or later, at a public, private, parochial or home school (Middle School Level Contestants), and (3) legal and current residents of the fifty United States or District of Columbia enrolled in grades nine through twelve, as of August 15, 2011 or later, at a public, private, parochial or home school (High School Level Contestants).
2. Who is Not Eligible: Employees, officers and directors of Sponsor, its affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies, and members of the immediate families or households (whether or not related) of any of the above are NOT eligible to enter the Contest. CONTEST IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW.
3. How to Enter: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. An Entry consists of: (1) a fully-completed Entry Form with Parental Consent (with parent/legal guardian signature if under the age of 18) and (2) an essay addressing the following theme: What makes us human and why? You must mail your Entry with proper postage to: Letters to Lucy Essay Competition, c/o Kollman & Saucier PA, The Business Law Building, 1823 York Road, Timonium, MD 21093-5119. Only submit one Entry. You will be disqualified from the Contest if you submit multiple Entries.
4. Entry Deadline: DEADLINE EXTENDED TO DECEMBER 31, 2011. Sponsor will begin accepting Entries on August 15, 2011. Entries must be postmarked no later than 5:00 PM Pacific Standard Time on December 31, 2011. Late entries will not be considered.
5. Entry Form with Parental Consent: You can access the Entry Form with Parental Consent in one of three ways: (1) Download and print it by clicking the following link: Entry Form with Parental Consent, (2) Obtain a copy from your school (teachers may request a pdf of the Entry Form by emailing iho@asu.edu, (3) Call the Institute of Human Origins at 480.727.6580 to request the Sponsor to mail you a copy. ENTRIES RECEIVED WITHOUT A FULLY COMPLETED “ENTRY FORM WITH PARENTAL CONSENT” SIGNED BY A PARENT/LEGAL GUARDIAN WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.
6. Essay Format: Essays must be in the English language, typed or computer-printed, double spaced, on 8½” x 11” paper. Essays must be fully original. DO NOT include your name anywhere on your essay (to ensure fair judging). Staple or clip the Entry Form with Parental Consent to your essay. Essays failing to comply with any of the format requirements will not be considered.
7. Essay Length: Entries submitted by Elementary Level Contestants must be 200 words or less. Entries submitted by Middle School Level Contestants must be 500 words or less. Entries submitted by High School Level Contestants must be 1000 words or less. The word count will only encompass the actual text of the essay. Refer to Official Contest Rule Number (1) for your Contestant Level. Essays that exceed the maximum word allowance for your Contestant Level will not be considered.
8. Essay Judging: Essays will be judged on or about January 31, 2012 by a three judge panel consisting of two Sponsor board members and a person unaffiliated with Sponsor (Initial Round Judges), whose decisions on all matters are final and binding. Essays will be scored based on the equally-weighted criteria of: (1) originality, (2) clarity, and (3) responsiveness to the theme. Ten winners will be selected from each Contestant Level. Contestants who submit the highest scoring essay in each Contestant Level will be deemed first place winners (one first-place winner for each level), contestants who submit the second highest scoring essay in each Contestant Level will be deemed second place winners (one second-place winner for each level), and contestants who submit the third highest scoring essay in each Contestant Level will be deemed third place winners (8 third-place winners for each level). In the event of a tie for the first- or second-place winners, the tie will be broken in favor of the essay with the highest originality score. If the tie continues, the tied essays will be re-judged based on the above criteria by a Sponsor board member who was not an Initial Round Judge.
9. Prizes: First place winners will receive a visit to their school by Donald Johanson, PhD, contingent upon school administrator approval, who will give a presentation to the entire school or select classes, as determined by the school administrator(s). A home school winner shall receive a personal visit or suitable group presentation. First place winners will also receive an autographed copy of one of Donald Johanson’s books, an opportunity to have a photograph taken with Donald Johanson, and a letter of recognition. Second place winners will receive an autographed copy of one of Donald Johanson’s books and a letter of recognition. Third place winners will receive a letter of recognition. All prizes will be awarded. Approximate retail value of each prize is: First place–$25 plus the value of travel expenses for Donald Johanson to travel to the winner’s location; Second place–$25; Third place–$0.
10. Winner Notification and Prize Acceptance: Winners will be notified by Sponsor via telephone and mail on or about February 15, 2012 at the phone number and address listed on their Entry Form with Parental Consent. Attached to the mailed winner notification will be an Affidavit of Eligibility, Release and Prize Acceptance Form (Contestant Release). Winners (or their parents/legal guardians if under the age of 18) must complete and mail the Contestant Release with proper postage to Sponsor at Kollman & Saucier PA, The Business Law Building, 1823 York Road, Timonium, MD 21093-5119 within ten (10) days of notification. If a selected winner does not return the Contestant Release by the required date, cannot be reached, is found to be ineligible or cannot or does not comply with these Official Rules, the selected winner will be disqualified and the contestant with the next highest essay score will be selected as an alternate winner. First place winners’ school administrators (if applicable) will also be notified via telephone and mail on or about February 25, 2011 at the phone number and address listed on each winner’s Entry Form with Parental Consent. Attached to the mailed school notification will be an Affidavit of Consent (School Release). It will be the school administrators’ responsibility to arrange a date and time for Donald Johanson to visit the school between April 2, 2012 and May 25, 2012 and to return the School Release within twenty (20) days of notification. If a school declines a visit from Donald Johanson, cannot be reached, or fails to return the School Release within the required time period, the first place winner will receive an autographed picture of Donald Johanson in lieu of the visit and photo opportunity, as well as the remaining above listed first place prizes.
11. Odds of Winning: Odds of winning will depend on the quality of other essays submitted as judged by the criteria in Official Contest Rule Number (8).
12. Publication Rights: By accepting a prize, winners grant to Sponsor the right to edit, publish, copy, display and otherwise use their essays in connection with this Contest, and to use their names, likenesses, and biographical information in advertising and promotional materials, including BecomingHuman.org, without further compensation or permission, except where prohibited by law. No Entries will be returned.
13. Release of Liability: Sponsor assumes no liability for lost, misdirected, damaged, stolen, postage-due, illegible or late entries. Prizes are non-transferable, not returnable and cannot be sold or redeemed for cash. If above described prizes are not available, Sponsor will award a prize of equal or greater value to winners. Winners will be solely responsible for any federal, state or local taxes. By participating, contestants agree to release and hold harmless Sponsor, its advertising and promotion agencies and their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, representatives, agents, successors, assigns, employees, officers and directors, from any and all liability, for loss, harm, damage, injury, cost or expense, including but not limited to, property damage, personal injury and/or death which may occur in connection with, preparation for or participation in any Contest-related activity and for any claims based on publicity rights, defamation, invasion of privacy, copyright infringement, trademark infringement or merchandise delivery. Sponsor is not responsible if any prize cannot be awarded due to travel cancellations, delays or interruptions due to acts of god, acts of war, natural disasters, weather or acts of terrorism.
14. Acknowledgment of Understanding: By submitting an Entry, you acknowledge you understand these Official Rules.