For Immediate Release, April 1, 2002

San Francisco, CA — Six students have won the Economics Essay Competition held by the San Francisco Independent Scholars (SFIS), a scholarship program for San Francisco high-school students.

James King of Urban High School won the $1,000 first-place prize with his essay on war and the economy. Nick Harmon of Lick-Wilmerding won second place ($500). Two students tied for the $250 third-place prize, Charles Filipov (Lick-Wilmerding) and Dean Leng (University High School).

Two San Francisco home-school students, Thomas Dudro and Jacob Rothenbluhler, won “Special Mention” awards and $50 gift certificates to Barnes & Noble.

“We wanted to expose students to the basics of economic theory and give them a forum to apply what they learned to the most talked-about issues today,” said Ann Fry, program manager for SFIS.

“We were thrilled to see students show so much enthusiasm for economic ideas and current events,” she said.

Students were asked to answer “true” or “false” to one of three economic propositions, and argue their case citing at least one book from a recommended reading list and two additional sources. The three propositions were: 1) War is good for the economy. 2) The government should intervene in the economy to counter a recession. 3) Dependable private-property rights are essential for long-term economic growth.

The competition was open to more than 300 scholars within SFIS, a program administered by the Pacific Research Institute. The winning essays are posted on the Institute’s website at www.pacificresearch.org.

SFIS was established in 1997 to reward talented and high-achieving students and to promote educational alternatives in San Francisco. SFIS provides scholarships from $1,000 to $4,000 annually, for four years, to San Francisco students in grades 8-12, and home schoolers from grades 6-12 throughout the Bay Area.

###

The Pacific Research Institute is a non-profit, non-partisan 501(c) 3 organization that advances parental choice in education, high academic standards and accountability, charter schools, teacher quality, and school finance reform.