Photo contest gives away over $6500 in Kwantlen Kash
Kwantlen recently announced the winners of the “It’s my Kwantlen” student photo contest, which had over $6500 of Kwantlen “Kash” up for grabs.
Despite claims of vote-stacking, Kwantlen’s inaugural photo contest was a success.
By Kassandra Linklater [News Editor]
Kwantlen recently announced the winners of the “It’s my Kwantlen” student photo contest, which had over $6500 of Kwantlen “Kash” up for grabs.
The online photo contest’s goal was to have KPU students highlight their school spirit.
According to the Kwantlen’s press release, these photos were chosen “because they embodied Kwantlen spirit and pride, and expressed something special and positive about the school, its people and their own experiences here.”
The five winners are: “School Swagger” by Michela Fiorido – $3000 Grand Prize Winner,
“I Tried Everything” by Zizo Almohammadi – $1000 2nd Prize Winner-
“Sky’s the Limit” by Konstantin Rabinovich – $1000 3rd Prize Winner
“Can Any New University” by Michela Fiorido – $500 Honourable Mention
“The Road to Success” Stacey Mosoph – $500 Honourable Mention
The official rules stated the criteria for determining the winner was based on how the photo and words captured the spirit of KPU, as outlined in the contest theme criteria [and] the number of votes each submission received.
The top five submissions were then judged by a panel which took into consideration the number of votes it received during the online voting portion of the contest.
The contest did come under controversy when it was discovered that a number of contestants participated in ‘vote loading.’ However, when this was brought to the judges’ attention, the judges decided that the number of votes would be a secondary consideration and that more weight would be placed on whether the photo met the contest theme and truly depicted Kwantlen spirit and pride, according to the press release.
The photos were judged by an panel that included Ron Maggiore, Associate Vice-President, Strategic Enrollment Management; Jody Gordon, Associate Vice-President, Students; and Audrey Wang, Manager, Communication.
For more information and to see all of the photos and contest winners, you can visit the contest website at www.kwantlen.ca/contest.
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Q and A with winners Michela Fiorido and Konstantin Rabinovich
Q – Why did you enter the contest?
Michela Fiorido – I entered the contest to win the money, except I didn’t really think it all through as I graduate in less than a month. Now I have a boatload of Kwantlen dollars on my hands….perhaps a raiding of Chartwells is in order.
Konstantin Rabinovich – A classmate of mine was going from person to person (ones who had laptops, that is) and begging them to vote for her. I hadn’t heard about the contest before and figured I might give it a shot.
Q – What was significant about the photo you entered?
MF – The photos were both important to me, the soccer one especially. I’ve played soccer with these girls for a couple years and to see them succeed and win provincials was amazing. Even more amazing was witnessed the Kwantlen pride that they exuded and their confidence level afterwards.
KR – I think it just captured the essence of the slogan “The Sky’s the Limit” quite nicely. The photograph I took was taken at an angle that really allows the viewer to literally put themselves into the shoes of a potential student at Kwantlen. And the couple of hours I spent editing and photoshopping the final result was pretty significant as well.
Q – What are you going to do with the Kwantlen Kash?
MF – With the Kwantlen Kash I’m trying to find a way to use it to pay off my summer semester but I haven’t actually received it yet so I’m not sure if it’s like a card or a cheque or what. I really should use it to pay off my five million tickets from Impark, or use it to buy out all the beer in Grassroots Lounge and get everyone on campus wasted. There’s some cool books in the bookstore I might go for, but I’m hoping in the future they get computers or something in there because my laptop is archaic and I could really use a new one from the twenty-first century.
KR – Books and tuition (if the latter is possible). Otherwise, just books and I’ll probably just take her to Playland about 80 thousand times. Does the Kwantlen book store sell beer?
