ESSAY CONTEST

2011 Essay Contest Winners.  2010 Essay Contest.

2011 Essay Contest

The topic for 2011 is COMPROMISE VS. CONVICTION.

"No society . . . can fail, in time, to explode if it is deprived of the arts of compromise, if it knows no way of muddling through. No good society can be unprincipled, and no viable society can be principle-ridden." Alexander M. Bickel (U.S. legal scholar, 1924 -1974).

What is the proper balance between conviction and compromise? Using examples from American history and current events, discuss the benefits, limits and dangers of compromise.

Essay winners are:

• 1st place: Rose Hinson (Gunn High School)
• 2nd place: Esha Datta (Palo Alto High School)
• 3rd place: Tony Jim (Gunn High School)

Click on name to view the essay.

2010 Essay Contest Topic

The topic for 2010 was THE LIMITS OF FREEDOM. Recent Supreme Court decisions concerning gun control and campaign financing, the current California ballot proposition on marijuana, and recently enacted laws concerning texting and cell phone use are all part of a continuing national discussion on how to maintain personal freedoms while providing for the common good. Please discuss the tension between individual freedom and the needs of society, as it affects one or more contemporary political issues.

• 1st Place Essay
• 2nd Place Essay

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