First-Year Composition

• First Place: Cadet Richard Luck (Electrical and Computer Engineering major, Class of 2012), “Proposal to Drill for Oil in Alaska.”  Instructor: Ms. Sue Coleman-Croushorn.
• Second Place: Cadet Alan Watts (History major, Class of 2012), “The Language of Baseball.”  Instructor: Mr. Ron Salutsky.
• Third Place: Cadet Doug Alvey (History major, Class of 2012), “Global Warming: Our Challenge But Not Our Coffin.”  Instructor: LCDR Alexis Hart.

Writing Across the Curriculum

• First Place: Cadet Alex Snyder (Chemistry major with minors in writing and business, Class of 2009), “Valspar Summer Internship 2008.”  Instructor: Col. Emily Miller. 
• Second Place: Cadet Justin Smith (Mechanical Engineering major, Class of 2009), “Japan’s Advance into Southeast Asia: Opportunity, Economy, Strategy and Politics.”  Instructor: Col. Mark Wilkinson.
• Third Place: Cadet Vince Abruzzese (History major with minors in English and writing, Class of 2009), “Judgment Day: A Causal Analysis of High Stakes Testing and Democratic Education.” Instructor: LCDR Alexis Hart.

Undergraduate Research Initiative

• First Place: Cadet Even Rogers (English major with a minor in writing, Class of 2010), “Learning to See: The Black Mountain College Experiment.” Instructor: Col. Rob McDonald
• Second Place: Cadet Gregory Lippiatt (Double major inEnglish and History with a concentration in military history, Class of 2009), “Counterinsurgency on the Home Front: The British Army in Northern Ireland 1969-72.”  Instructor: Maj. Eric Osborne.
• Third Place: Cadet Vince Abruzzese (History major with minors in English and writing, Class of 2009), “Scant Resources: American and Japanese Foreign Relations Regarding Raw Materials and the Origins of the Attack on Pearl Harbor.”  Instructor: Col. Mark Wilkinson.

Institute Honors Program Senior Thesis

• First Place, Liberal Arts: Cadet Gregory Lippiatt (Double major inEnglish and History with a concentration in military history, Class of 2009), “The Wandering Pilgrim: Christian Asceticism in ‘The Wanderer’ and ‘The Seafarer.’” Instructor: Col. Alan Baragona.
• First Place, Sciences/Engineering: Cadet Alex Snyder (Chemistry major with minors in writing and business, Class of 2009), “The Putative Reproductive Pheromone of the Emerald Ash Borer.” Instructor: Col. Tappey Jones.