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American Idol for Geeks

Posted on June 2, 2006 by iwilder

Prepare to be creative and have the chance to win some great prizes!On issues from air quality to global warming, government science is being censored, manipulated, and distorted on an unprecedented scale. With emails, letters, and phone calls to legislators, you’ve been making your voice heard: science should be free from political interference! Now here’s your chance to show off your artistic and comedic talents in support of independent science—it’s said that a picture is worth a thousand words, but what about an editorial cartoon?

This is Science Idol!
The Union of Concerned Scientists is hosting a scientific integrity editorial cartoon contest. We’re looking for your creative take on the issue of political interference in science. Submit one-panel or multi-panel, print cartoons that address the misuse of science on a specific issue or in general. Entries are due by July 31, 2006. Click here for details on how to enter, links to professional cartoons, and the most recent news about this issue. Do you have talented friends who would be interested in entering? Click here to tell them about the contest.

Meet Your Celebrity Judges
We’re pleased to announce our judges for this competition—talented, award-winning cartoonists who will be choosing the top 12 finalists. Our celebrity judges are:

Tony Auth—Cartoonist at The Philadelphia Inquirer
Clay Bennett—Cartoonist at The Christian Science Monitor and president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists
Robert Mankoff—Cartoon editor for The New Yorker and founder and president of CartoonBank.com
Hillary Price—Creator of the syndicated cartoon Rhymes with Orange

Getting Started
Our summer of independent science starts now. We're offering you, more than 120,000 of your fellow activists, and other Americans the chance to enter the contest and spread the word. Our four celebrity judges will help narrow the entries down to 12 finalists. Then it’ll be up to you to cast your vote and choose the winner.

Consider this your audition—Enter Today!

Grand Prize:
An all-expenses paid trip to have lunch with the celebrity judge of your choice, plus:

$500
Signed copy of Dude: The Big Book of Zonker by Gary Trudeau
Winning entry printed in Catalyst and featured on the UCS website
Winning entry promoted on Cartoonbank.com
Winning entry printed on cover of 2007 Defending Science calendar
Fifty copies of the 2007 Defending Science calendar, including one signed by all celebrity judges