University student wins essay contest
By Scott Rochat
Originally published 02:56 p.m., September 18, 2007
Updated 02:56 p.m., September 18, 2007
An Emporia State University student won a $150 gift certificate after writing that money plays too great a role in politics.
Sarah Sadowsky, an ESU English major, won this year’s Constitution and Citizenship Day essay contest at the university.
This year’s theme was “Government for Sale,” in which students were asked whether the money involved in a presidential election was part of free speech or undermined the process. Sadowsky’s essay, “Goodbye Abraham Lincoln,” came down hard on the system.
“There is nothing legally stopping the political science professor from creating his own national campaign,” she wrote in one example. “... He is stopped by the economics of the office.
“Why would he put his family’s financial security on the line for the slim possibility that he would win the election? The opportunity cost is too high for the average American. ... The days of Abraham Lincoln are over, only to be replaced by the rich, elite American class that does not seem to understand the plight of the lower and middle class families of America.”
The contest is sponsored by the American Democracy Committee and honors Constitution Day, which was Monday. The gift certificate Sadowsky won is for the ESU Memorial Union Bookstore.