Cornell hosts ACM photo contest; Myka Peterson receives honorable mention

MOUNT VERNON - Cornell College will host the latest leg of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) Off-Campus Study Photo Contest April 6-10. Included among the collection is an Honorable Mention award winner from Myka Peterson entitled “Shipwrecked!” The traveling exhibit is part of the 50th Anniversary celebration of the ACM. The consortium sponsored the ACM Off-Campus Study Photo Contest, inviting students at ACM colleges to share the images and impressions they gathered from studying in locations around the world. The traveling exhibit of the ten winning photos and a selection of honorable mention photos is being hosted by ACM campuses through April and will be shown at the ACM 50th Anniversary Student Symposium on Off-Campus Study in Chicago on April 17-18, 2009. The photos also can be viewed on the ACM website at www.acm.edu/photocontest. Peterson received honorable mention for her photo titled “Shipwrecked!” The winning photos and a selection of honorable mention photos will be on display in the exhibit area in the Commons near Hedges at Cornell College from April 6 to 10, 2009. The Grand Prize was awarded to Kevin Close of Carleton College for “A Long Car Ride,” a photo taken during his studies in Mongolia and simply described as “One student, one translator, and ten goats.” First, second, and third place prizes were awarded in three categories: people, places, and stories. The contest judges were Will Pittinos, Web content coordinator at Lake Forest College, and Dave Amrein, director of the ACM Chicago Arts Program. The judges specifically looked for photos that captured a true liberal arts education – a unique, hands-on experience that allows students to step outside of the box and to do so experientially. The winners in the 2008-09 ACM Off-Campus Study Photo Contest are: Grand Prize A Long Car Ride, Kevin Close, Carleton College People First place: Freedom, Christina Demenshina, Beloit College Second place: Learning to Chew, Christopher Ruder, Beloit College Third place: Drying Persimmons, Ting Ting Yang, St. Olaf College Places First place: Climbing the Perito Moreno Glacier, Anna Hainzea, Lawrence University Second place: Aotearoa, Jen Milius, Knox College Third place: Weißglas, Erin McBurney, Grinnell College Stories First place: Caught in Midair, Po Ling Pauline Chan, Knox College Second place: Aventura en el fin del mundo (Adventure at the End of the World), Heather Kopec, Knox College Third place: First Communion in Lourdes, Po Ling Pauline Chan, Knox College Honorable Mention Abandoned, Ben Barclay, Carleton College Dusk, Sarah Diefendorf, Colorado College Incognito, Tabitha Hrynick, Colorado College Carnivale, Ellen Kokontis, Knox College Bula Fiji!, Ashleigh Martinez, Lake Forest College Rural Transportation, Jeannette Osterweil, Colorado College Shipwrecked!, Myka Peterson, Cornell College Stone Town Hopes, Kathleen Quigley, Monmouth College Botas de hule y pies descalzos (Rubber Boots and Bare Feet), Karen Skadow, Monmouth College The Spice of Life, Amelia Sternitzky, Ripon College ACM, a consortium of academically excellent, independent liberal arts colleges, has been a pioneer in off-campus study, operating domestic and international programs since the early 1960s. The current ACM members are Beloit College, Carleton College, Coe College, Colorado College, Cornell College, Grinnell College, Knox College, Lake Forest College, Lawrence University, Macalester College, Monmouth College, Ripon College, and St. Olaf College.