A few weeks ago I mentioned that I had entered myself as a contestant for the 3rd annual College Blogging Scholarship. I wasn't too optimistic about my chances, but much to my surprise I got an e-mail Friday evening letting me know that I made the final 20! I am proud to say I'm in the running for $10,000 that will help finance my last semesters and pay down the debt I have accrued over the last few years. (Sorry I did not put something up about this sooner; a scheduled post didn't go up for some reason.)
Now comes the tricky part. The next round of the contest is determined by voting, and I certainly don't have much of a chance without your help. Please help support me as I finish my ecology & evolution degree by voting for me.
I'm up against some popular political and sports blogs, though, so I have another favor to ask. If you could ask your friends to throw a vote my way, or put up a link asking your readers to do the same (if you have a blog), it would do a lot to assist me. I definitely can't do this on my own, and I am certainly grateful for all of you who have already voted and posted links!
Voting is going to be open until November 20th, so that's about 11 days to boost my stats. From the looks of it I'm off to a pretty good start, but I still have a long way to go. I know I can make it, though, and I deeply appreciate the help of everyone who has already voiced their support. Thanks!
[I am indebted to Bora, Blake, Mo, Mike, ReBecca, Julia, Bryan, PZ, the guys at DSN, John, John, Mike, and Kevin Z for the links they have put up. The response today has been overwhelming, and even if I don't make it, I have certainly been encouraged by all the wonderful comments left around the blogosphere this weekend!]
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I voted! And my student you interviewed will vote and get his friends to vote, too. Good luck! :-) You deserve it.
good luck!
Good Luck! I hope you pull out a win.
Best of luck (it shouldn't be luck, for surely your contributions on science are more important than Mariners baseball) to you, Brian!
Agk! I can't find out were to vote! I just get results, is it over?
Brett
Someone else was having this problem, if you are using AOL it seems to block your vote. I don't know how to change the IP proxy (I am about tech savvy enough to know a mouse isn't a rodent)but that appears to be the trick:
"I tried to vote, and found out that I couldnt - I have now had to vote from an anonymous IP Proxy. It appears that College Scholarships.org is IP filtering the votes, so one vote per IP. Whilst this might seem a method to prevent multiple votes, those on AOL might find themselves blocked.
More worryingly, those on an institutional IP address, such as a college network, might not be able to register their vote. For a contenst for a COLLEGE scholarship to do this is worrying - if 100 people at the University of Anywhere independently decided to vote, then only one vote will be allowed. Any chance this might be corrected before the closing date?
By Paul on November 9th, 2008"
Hope that helps. Voting is open until Nov. 20th
I tried to vote and it won't let me... I'm not using AOL and I tried on both Safari and Firefox. Sadness!
Just voted! Good luck winning the scholarship, Brian.
My small voice as well. Good luck!
Done and done!
Haha, nice little neck-and-neck race for third we have going on here. We've been tied for about an hour and keep getting votes at the same rate. Who do you think will break a thousand first?
Voted. I love Laelaps!
...
It is rather disgusting that such a 'serious' amount is awarded based on a 'vote'. H3ll, the HS scholarship committee I once chaired spent hours poring over applications from dozens of HS seniors for amounts much less than the $10K at stake here. Unbelievable.
That said, I obviously recognize the value of your contributions here and will certainly take a look at all the entries there ... and then find yours most deserving of my support. ...:minism:...
Best of luck.
...tom...
.
Brian was in third place when I voted. Fourth on down were way behind. I posted about this, encouraging folks to come visit and vote.
Brian, would a donation drive on your behalf utterly embarrass you, in case the scholarship goes to another? Could we tape the emotional breakdown and put it up on YouTube?
You were in 3rd place when I voted, but way behind David Cameron's USS Mariner blog (Seattle Mariner and baseball analysis). But this blog entry has now been dugg, reddited, and Buzzed, so hopefully that will help some.
Alan; That is a nice thought, but I don't think I could accept. It would not feel right about taking donations from readers to finish my education, particularly since there are more deserving causes than my education.
If people feel compelled to contribute something, there's always the Amazon wishlist on the left hand side of the blog. Not only have I learned an extraordinary amount from what I read, but it also directly fuels what I write here, so any "donations" of books would be of a benefit to me and my readers. Still, the holidays are coming up and the economy isn't doing that well, so I would rather people spend money on more worthy causes than my education.
Brian,
You received my vote!
Tom
I voted for you, sir, and urged my readers to do the same. Good luck!
request duly noted. vote cast!
Done. Why is a Mariners fanblog winning?
Great job. Having worked in the higher ed finance industry I know just how difficult it can be finding money for school.
I plugged you via Twitter as well.
Best of luck!
Switek,
Your excess humility is really annoying to those of us who have earned it. Now would you stop acting so humble, you're not that famous.
http://koenski-beterweter.blogspot.com has voted too, got a tip from my friend at Biophemera and I will set some wheels in motion on the net for you, check out my blog, one of Europe`s be,nature,gadgets,art,music,video and more,less talk more see.
Well, I clicked. Now that my former computer has bit the dust and I'm using a Vista system, I can't tell if it worked or not. Let's hope it did! You deserve it!