Found: One Great Essay, Reward: $1,000

Posted March 09, 2000


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 9, 2000 2000-03-06-ME

Found: One Great Essay, Reward: $1,000

Each year at the annual convention of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM), one lucky and talented grade 12 student receives a $1,000 scholarship. This award is available to students who live in a rural municipality and have a farming background, to help them pursue post-secondary education in Saskatchewan in an area of study related to agriculture or health.

The winner of the 2000 scholarship is Randy Linton from Parry, RM of Caledonia, #99. In his essay entitled 'The Importance of Safety and Health in the Farm Workplace,' he wrote, "Our poor judgement, our health and especially our mood all influence our safety. Our best reaction time is slow compared with the high-speed machinery we operate. Our judgement and reaction time is even slower if we are tired, stressed or under the influence of medication. This is the time when we need to be constantly reminded that getting adequate sleep, making time for rest breaks and remembering to work at a pace that is within our physical abilities is especially important. As farmers we know that this is easy to say, but much harder to practice. However, if we pause for a second and really think about it...really, what's a few hours, when it could mean a lifetime?"

The first scholarship was presented by the Centre for Agricultural Medicine in 1997 in order to commemorate the outstanding relationship between SARM, its member municipalities and the Centre for Agricultural Medicine. Funds from auctioning the first copy of SARM's history, entitled "The Building of a Province: Commemorating the 90th Anniversary of the Saskatchewan Association of rural Municipalities," were presented by the Board of Directors to the Centre for Agricultural Medicine. In return, the Centre set up the student essay award to accomplish the double goal of sensitizing rural students to farm health and safety issues and recognizing the tremendous role that SARM has played in agricultural health and safety in the province through support for the Agricultural Health and Safety Network.

The Centre for Agricultural Medicine received approximately 30 applications for this year's scholarship. To qualify, students wrote a 1,000 word essay. The scholarship will be offered again next year, with a deadline for applications early in January. Keep watching for announcements about the Year 2001 SARM Scholarship at your school or RM office.

For more information please contact,

Lori Lockinger
Centre for Agricultural Medicine
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-6643