Uni has caught the disease of competition lately, though not necessarily in a negative sense. Three student- and faculty-run contests have recently come to the attention of the rest of the Uni community. Take a look, and whip out some submissions — they all have the same deadline of March 20th! If you plan to submit to all three, whip out those writing/drawing tools with great expediency. Here they are, ranked in order of size of prize.

Unique Creative Writing Contest

Unique, the school's annual literary magazine, is always hatching new plots to solicit more entries for the year-end publication. The staff's latest brainchild happens to be a schoolwide creative writing contest, the Rosemary Laughlin Awards for Creative Writing.

Contestants may submit either prose (limited to 1,500 words) or poetry (limited to 150 lines), which will then be judged by Unique's three senior editors — senior Kareem Sayegh and juniors Hadley Hauser and Diana Liu. The final decision will be made by the respected Rosemary Laughlin, retired Uni English teacher and lifelong poet.

One winner will be declared in the poetry division, and one in prose. Each winner will receive approximately $75, splitting all of Unique's profits from its bake sales. A runner-up will be selected in both and be awarded a consolation prize, tentatively set to be a book.

The deadline for this contest is March 20, coinciding with the deadline for submissions to the magazine. However, keep in mind that submissions to one will be automatically considered for the other, unless otherwise noted in the entry. Art pieces and photography will still be accepted in the magazine, but will not be entered into the contest.

Entries can be submitted to the editors in person or by e-mail, or through the manila folder in Room 106S.

"Everyone should buy stuff from our bake sales, set for March 18 and March 20," says Hauser. "The more you buy, the more you can win!"

Library Book Cover Contest

An invigorating contest to participate in, if your interests lie in art and literature, is Uni's first-ever Redesign a Book Cover Contest, sponsored by our favorite "trio of library ladies" — librarian Frances Harris, senior library specialist Runelle Shriver, and student assistant Natalie Sapkarov.

The rules are simple: Choose a book and recreate its cover. Examples for strokes of inspiration can be found here and here.

In your submission, please remember to include the title and author of the book. Any medium may be used, anything from digital editing and collage to painting and photography.

"You can design a cover that attempts to portray the book accurately, or you can reinterpret the title and poke some fun at the book," writes Sapkarov in a schoolwide e-mail.

Entries are to be submitted in the library and are due on March 20, the same date as the Unique contest deadline.

Prizes will be awarded for first, second, and third places in the form of gift cards to Borders.

"It seems like a great idea to get a new perspective on the books we already love," said junior Amy Ding, who is considering entering the contest.

Green Club Logo Design Contest

Uni's recently formed Green Club has already picked up on the lure of holding a contest. In an effort to kick-start its grand opening, the environmentally friendly club is offering a prize for the best design of a logo to represent the organization.

"We would like our logo to include our name and the school's name. Other than that, you are free to let your imagination run wild!" said junior Brittany Scheid, who along with junior Maria Gao, presides over the club.

The deadline for the logo design contest is also March 20. The winner will receive a culinary prize.

"We discussed future plans of the club and what we wanted to do in the upcoming months, so coming up with a logo seemed like a good way to establish the club," said Gao. "All the club-goers thought it was a good idea, so we just went forth with it!"

All rights will go to the club, as the members plan to use it on shirts and other mechanisms to fundraise for a green cause.