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San
Diego, CA - San
Diego County Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) has announced the
winners of the group's second annual Essay/Scholarship Contest, which
asked high school students to address the topic: "Does Lawsuit Abuse
Undermine Principles of Individual Responsibility?"
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(Left
to right): Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham
congratulates
Luke Gilbert, 2nd Place ($500) Winner from Escondido High School;
Elizabeth Saxe, 3rd Place ($250) Winner from Vista High School;
Talya Spivack, 3rd Place ($250) Winner from Torrey Pines High
School; Todd Jones, Chairman of the CALA Board of Directors; and
Christina Vanderwerken, 1st Place ($1,000) Winner from El Camino
High School - Oceanside. |
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Here for More Photos
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First place
went to Christina Vanderwerken of El Camino High School - Oceanside.
She received a $1,000 CALA scholarship for her essay, which stated,
"Unnecessary lawsuits cause problems not only with the people
involved, but also to the innocent bystanders . . . People are too eager
to find scapegoats for their problems when things don't go as planned.
Instead of taking responsibility for our actions, we unleash litigation
monsters on the world."
Second place
was won by Luke Gilbert of Escondido High School. He received a
$500 scholarship. Elizabeth Saxe of Vista High School and Talya
Spivack of Torrey Pines High School, won third
place
scholarships in the amount of $250.
"We were ecstatic about the number of entries
we received, and how well thought out the essays were," said Andy
Kotner, President of CALA. "We hope that by participating in this
essay contest, students are now more aware of the importance of individual
responsibility and the fact that discouraging this principle encourages
lawsuit abuse," Kotner continued.
CALA held a special luncheon on May 4th at the
Mission Valley Hilton Hotel to honor the winners. Keynote speakers at the
event were Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham and State Senator
Jim Battin. The luncheon ended with a hilarious slide show and comedy
presentation by Frank King, "King of White Collar Comedy," and
Steve Kelley, Editorial Cartoonist, San Diego Union Tribune. More than 300
guests including local, regional, state, and federal elected officials (or
their representatives) witnessed the students receiving their honors.
Further, Congressman Cunningham added $250 of his
own funds to each of the four scholarships.
All entries were judged on the following criteria:
1) The definition of lawsuit abuse. 2) How lawsuit abuse undermines
principles of individual responsibility, and 3) The effect lawsuits have
on our economy.
Judges for the contest included:
- Hon. Jim Battin - Senator, District 37
- Hon. Michael Cafagna - Mayor, City of
Poway
- George Coles - President, Coles Carpets
- James Edwards - Vice President, General
Counsel & Secretary, Vapotronics, Limited
- Hon. Susen Fay - Trustee, County Board
of Education
- Matthew Gleason, M.D.
- Hon. Casey Gwinn - San Diego City
Attorney
- Professor Gail Heriot - USD School of
Law
- Hon. Jerry Jessop - Judge of the
Superior Court
- Todd Jones - Centurion Counsel Inc., and
CALA Chairman of the Board
- Lynn Harper -Talk Show Host, KOGO
AM 600 Radio
- Steve Kelley - Editorial
Cartoonist, San Diego Union Tribune
- Hon. Jay LaSeur - Assemblymember,
District 77
- Hon. Mark Lewis - Mayor, City of El
Cajon
- Hon. Jim Madaffer - San Diego
City Councilmember
- Hon. Brian Maienschein - San
Diego City Councilmember
- Gualter Moura - San Diego County
2000 Teacher of the Year - Mission Bay High School (SD Unified School
District)
- Hon. Claude Parrish - State Board
of Equalization, 3rd District
- Wendy Patrick - Deputy District
Attorney
- Hon. Scott Peters - San Diego City
Councilmember
- Lloyd Rowland - Vice President,
General Counsel & Secretary, Alliance Pharmaceutical, Corp.
- Hon. Pam Slater - San Diego
County Supervisor
- Barbara Wheeler-Morrow - Vice
President - Legislation, Civil Justice Association of California
- Hon. Mark Wyland - Assemblymember,
District 74
- Hon. Charlene Zettel -
Assemblymember, District 75
CALA is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots
public education organization dedicated to serving as a watchdog over the
legal system and those who would seek to abuse it for undeserved gain.
More than 8,000 San Diego residents are CALA supporters.
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