RSS (All Tags)Friedman Liberty Prize Student Contest Winners
In April 2010, Cato On Campus held a contest for mock nominations to the Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, following the announcement of the award being given to Akbar Ganji. These three students were selected for their creative and insightful essays that answered: "In light of the selection of Akbar Ganji for the receipt of the 2010 Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, who would you nominate for a second prize this year and why?"
Yasmin Jeanice Green was born and raised in Harlem, Manhattan, New York. She attended elementary and high school in Manhattan and Oyster Bay, Long Island. After having devoted most of her childhood summers to Amateur Astronomy, Yasmin enrolled as a declared Astronomy (Physics) major at Alfred University in 2003. However, after taking only a couple of introductory Political Science courses that year, Yasmin quickly became interested in the political and social sciences.
Yasmin's travels as a member of the Alfred University Chamber Singers took her to rural Pucallpa, Peru, Athens, Greece, and Sofia, Bulgaria. These trips made her even more interested in the world around her, and also acutely aware of the liberties afforded and denied to those outside of the United States. Consequently, Yasmin's switch from Astronomy to Political Science major felt only natural.
Last summer Yasmin was awarded the opportunity to attend Cato University. There, she met other liberty-oriented and like-minded people. Yasmin's most treasured memory of Cato University was not simply being among like-minded people, but figuring out together how she and others could educate more people about preserving our liberties in a civil manner. The intellectually rigorous and at times poignant lectures about American history and the arduous struggle for civil liberties still resonate loudly with Yasmin. Yasmin looks forward to attending the Institute for Humane Studies' Liberty and Leviathan seminar this summer, where she hopes to build more friendships, and engage in the same types of intellectually stimulating discussions that she experienced at Cato University in 2009.
Having just completed her first year in the International Studies program at St. John Fisher College, Yasmin is eager to obtain her Master of Science degree in 2011, and begin a career in international diplomacy. Yasmin plans on following in her maternal grandfather's footsteps by working for the United States Department of State, where she hopes to have a long and productive career furthering American interests while also promoting policies that advance individual liberties abroad.
Joseph Hammond is a rising journalist who has traveled to over thirty countries and been published in print form on four continents. He completed his B.A degree in history from the University of California, Irvine. While an undergraduate Joseph Hammond completed summer internships on U.S and NATO bases in Italy, Japan, and Germany. During his undergraduate career he first read Fredric Bastiat's "The Law." This work's simple and elegant defense of free market ideas and peace sparked a deep interest liberal ideas.
While completing his MA in Middle East History from California State University, Long Beach Joseph received a grant from the Strategic Language Initiative to study Arabic. Spending a summer in Jordan he interned at the United Nations Refugee Works Association in Amman. He has attended several Institute of Humane Studies seminars and in the summer of 2009 completed an internship with the International Herald Tribune/Daily News Egypt with support from the Institute of Humane Studies. He has also freelanced with JO Magazine (Jordan's largest English language magazine), The Baltic Times, Al-Borsa(Cairo), and a number of sports publications in the United States.
His travels to many different countries and cultures only deepened his beliefs in individual rights and the of the benefits of free-trade. He will begin a stint as the Collegiate Network Fellow at the offices of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Prague, Czech Republic late this summer. In his free time Joseph is an aspiring polyglot with a basic grasp of Estonian and Dari coupled with a working knowledge of Spanish and Arabic. He also enjoys watching sports such as boxing and listening to Cato podcasts at the gym.
After taking her first economics class in high school, Liya Palagashvili developed a passion for free markets and individual liberty, which led her to George Mason University, where she is currently a junior majoring in Economics with a double minor in Philosophy of Law and Data Analysis.
At George Mason, Liya is the President of the Economics Society, a Resident Adviser on her campus, and a member of the International Economic Honor Society, Omicron Delta Epsilon. Liya was a Koch Summer Fellow in 2009 and has previously interned at the Foundation for Economic Education, the Institute for Humane Studies, and the Citizens Against Government Waste.
This past year, Liya was awarded the 2010 Student of the Year by the national Students For Liberty organization and will be joining the executive board of the Students For Liberty in July to help advance the principles that govern a free society. Liya will be concluding her junior year as an intern at the Institute for Justice this summer.