{"id":62046,"date":"2011-06-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-06-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/what-would-gandhi-do-2\/"},"modified":"2011-06-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-06-01T00:00:00","slug":"what-would-gandhi-do-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2011\/06\/what-would-gandhi-do-2\/","title":{"rendered":"What would Gandhi do?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t溏心vlog免费B站 essay contest shows 8th graders are living his message

\nWinners from Westerly, East Greenwich, Providence, & East Providence<\/p>\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 June 1, 2011 \u2013 At an age when many children are thinking primarily about themselves, a Westerly Middle School eighth-grader has shown she is looking out for the greater good by developing plans for an anti-bullying program and helping families displaced by last year\u2019s historic floods. For her efforts to follow in Mahatma Gandhi\u2019s footsteps and show that her life is her message, Sydni Ulricksen of Westerly has won the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s first Gandhi Essay Contest.<\/p>\n


\n溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies and the 溏心vlog免费B站 Honors Program honored Ulricksen and five other eighth-graders from East Greenwich, Providence, and East Providence for their essays, which were selected from 119 submissions. Students were challenged to write about their interpretation of Gandhi\u2019s written statement, \u201cMy life is my message,\u201d and how it applied to their own lives. <\/p>\n


\n\u201cThe essays in the top group were very close,\u201d said Paul Bueno de Mesquita, professor of psychology, director of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies, and a contest coordinator. \u201cFor our first effort, we found the essays to be very impressive. What I found most interesting were the personal stories.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nUlricksen\u2019s personal story involved her plans for a senior project to help end bullying, which she called a huge problem in schools: I hope to go around schools in my district, possibly even some around the state, and present audiences of students with facts about tormenting people, and being bullied. I would have speakers that are tormentors, victims, and even people who have witnessed bullying. Consequences for bullies would be explained, as well as consequences for victims. I would break down how to recognize and stop a bully. Showing bullies how what they\u2019re doing is wrong, would be a major point in my presentation. I would give them what they need to figure out why they torment others, and how to fix it. One thing I would make sure to point out, is the emotional weight the bully would have to carry when they\u2019re victim commits suicide or harms themselves and what bullying can do to their future. <\/p>\n


\nAs for victims, I would make it clear that it\u2019s okay to tell someone what\u2019s going on, and what could happen, like being assaulted, if they don\u2019t. \u2026 If people who are neither bullies nor victims follow the advice that I give them to help victims stop the abuse, and how to stop the bully, my message would be followed much like Gandhi\u2019s. This is something that I want changed, and I will be showing people how I think it should be changed. Therefore, that part of my life will be my message, and I will be the change I wish to see in the world. <\/p>\n


\nUlricksen\u2019s thoughtful essay and others like it were what Ruby Dholakia, a contest coordinator and marketing professor in 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s College of Business Administration, was hoping the contest would inspire. She said that issues like hateful speech and bullying must be addressed but the model for addressing them is usually Martin Luther King Jr.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cHere on this campus and in the wider society, people forget that Mahatma Gandhi was the inspiration for Dr. King,\u201d Dholakia said. \u201cWe wanted to involve eighth graders since they would be more open to change and maybe have an impact on such devastating issues as bullying.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nUlricksen also wrote about how her family took in five families displaced by last year\u2019s flooding: Three ended up living with us for about ten days and during that time we provided them with food, shelter, money for their mortgage, and clothing. My brother and I used our free time during that week to set up beds, and areas where we could store their luggage. I spent most of my time helping with the 3 or 4 children that were at my house so the parents could make sure that they had everything they needed. If other people did this, it would have effects on their community, their personal moral, and on the lives of the people they help.<\/p>\n


\nTwo second-place winners and three third-place winners were recognized at a May 4 ceremony on 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Kingston campus and honored with $100, $50 and $30 respectively and gift certificates to Rasoi and Kabob and Curry restaurants. They included:

\nSecond Place:


\nAmanda Seigel, Rocky Hill School in East Greenwich<\/p>\n


\nSeigel wrote about the importance of leadership by example. On her middle school\u2019s student council for three years, she strives to treat other people the way she would want to be treated. Her goal is to lead in a quiet and thoughtful way. The message she wants to send is to always try your honest best in your work and in your relationships while trying to see the good in yourself and others.<\/p>\n


\nIsabella Crema, Nathanael Greene Middle School in Providence<\/p>\n


\nCrema\u2019s essay addressed how her family has inspired her to work in the community and become involved with many organizations. One of her great grandfathers fought for workers’ rights by organizing factory workers. As a result, he was blacklisted during the McCarthy years. Another great grandfather bought homes in the Chicago suburbs for people experiencing racial discrimination. Her grandfather is a Canadian genocide scholar, who launched \u201cThe Will to Intervene\u201d project, which is aimed at preventing mass atrocities. <\/p>\n


\nThird Place:


\nSofia Riva, Gordon School, East Providence<\/p>\n


\nRiva wrote about her very personal struggle to live her beliefs. You may think starting a club at a school would have no effect on the wider world but she discovered that it does. She learned firsthand that eighth graders have important decisions to make and being associated with a controversial cause is difficult. She believes Gandhi\u2019s example can prompt young people to make the right decisions.<\/p>\n


\nDelia Sosa, St. Margaret School, East Providence<\/p>\n


\nSosa\u2019s grandfather was Elmer Burke, who worked with two other men to establish Rhode Island\u2019s first Black credit union 50 years ago. She wrote about how the men dealt with death threats and harassment in a peaceful and non-violent manner. With Gandhi as a role model, Sosa touched on how she deals with people who are difficult to get along with and how she tries to set a positive example as the vice president of her school\u2019s student council.<\/p>\n


\nMoira Anderson, Providence Country Day, East Providence<\/p>\n


\nAnderson\u2019s essay focused on her efforts to help the environment and leave a small carbon footprint. She wrote about the practical ways she is accomplishing this goal, such as keeping the thermostat low and air-drying clothes. She eats food from local farms and she composts. She tries to help local shelters by donating meals and making fleece blankets for those in need.<\/p>\n


\n\t溏心vlog免费B站 community members who helped organize the contest were: Libby Miles, associate professor and director of the Writing and Rhetoric program, Diane Kern, assistant professor of education, Arthur Stein, professor emeritus of political science and the Honors Program and Charles Collyer, professor of psychology. In addition, a committee of 溏心vlog免费B站 personnel and local community leaders read all of the essay submissions.<\/p>\n


\nPictured above<\/p>\n


\nFor her efforts to follow in Mahatma Gandhi\u2019s footsteps and show that her life is her message, Sydni Ulricksen of Westerly has won the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s first Gandhi Essay Contest. (L-R) Paul Bueno de Mesquita, 溏心vlog免费B站 professor of psychology and director of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies; Ruby Dholakia, marketing professor in 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s College of Business Administration; Sydni\u2019s mother Teresa Ulricksen; Sydni Ulricksen; and Sydni\u2019s father Jeffrey Ulricksen.<\/p>\n


\nAmanda Seigel, an eighth grader at the Rocky Hill School in East Greenwich, won second place in the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s first Gandhi Essay Contest. Seigel wrote about the importance of leadership by example. She is honored by Paul Bueno de Mesquita, 溏心vlog免费B站 professor of psychology and director of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies.<\/p>\n


\nSofia Riva, an eighth grader at the Gordon School in East Providence, won third place in the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s first Gandhi Essay Contest. She wrote about her personal struggle to live her beliefs. She is honored by Paul Bueno de Mesquita, 溏心vlog免费B站 professor of psychology and director of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies.<\/p>\n


\n溏心vlog免费B站 Department of Communications & Marketing photo by Joe Giblin Photography.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

溏心vlog免费B站 essay contest shows 8th graders are living his message Winners from Westerly, East Greenwich, Providence, & East Providence KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 June 1, 2011 \u2013 At an age when many children are thinking primarily about themselves, a Westerly Middle School eighth-grader has shown she is looking out for the greater good by developing plans […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62050,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}