University of Minnesota, Crookston student Brian Larson's in-depth look at the environmental impact of the Three Gorges Dam project on China's Yangtze River took first place honors in an Earth Day Poster Contest held at UMC on April 22, which, by no coincidence, was Earth Day.

Thanks to a donation from the UMC Concerts and Lectures Committee, Larson was awarded $75. Joey Rud's poster describing his views on how to best manage deer herds took second place and $50, followed by a tie for third-place and $25 each for Julia Ovando's poster depicting the struggles of the endangered Burrowing Owl and Reed Van Eps' poster describing the devastation caused by Dutch elm disease and bark beetles. Honorable mention was given to the following posters: "Zebra Mussel Watch" by Brandon Sykora, "Computer Junk" by Melanie Lindholm and Kari Visness, "Chicago Lake Front Pollution" by Phil Hatcher, and "Just Pick it Up" by Alaina Burt, Jean Korkowski and Dena Schauland. The trio wasn't enrolled in either zoology or physics; they were just interested in doing something meaningful to mark Earth Day.

A committee comprised of UMC faculty and staff judged the posters.

Of the 27 posters entered in the contest, most were designed by physics and zoology students taught by David DeMuth and Jerry Knutson, respectively, in conjunction with UMC's Office of Service Learning. The goal of Service Learning is to get students involved in projects related to their classes that benefit their community as well as themselves. Knutson has since displayed the posters in various elementary classrooms throughout Crookston, and Sykora's zebra mussels poster can be seen at Ceason's Sport and Hobby on North Broadway. Eventually, the posters will be displayed at Rydell National Wildlife Refuge.

Some of the posters' messages were targeted specifically at UMC faculty, staff and students, while other contest entrants relied on personal, firsthand experience when designing their posters. Hatcher, for example, has seen the damage done by industrial pollutants to what was once a vibrant lakefront in his hometown of Chicago, Ill. Similar firsthand knowledge was behind Patrice Petithomme's poster, "Boaters Slow Down." Petithomme, of Miami, Fla., said more manatees are being killed each year by boaters who drive too fast. Manatees are capable of hearing high-pitched sounds from great distances, but not the roar of a boat engine, Petithomme told judges during her presentation.

But it was Larson's poster that raised the most eyebrows. The Three Gorges Dam will be the largest dam in the world when it's finished in 2009, not to mention the most expensive, estimated to carry a price tag of more than $30 billion. The purpose of the dam is to control annual flooding and allow large ocean ships to enter the country through a series of locks. While those reasons sound proactive enough on the surface, Larson explained to the judges during his presentation, the construction of the dam will force more than a million people from their homes and destroy many of China's geological wonders.

The Earth Day Poster Contest is in its third year. Last year's posters all focused on recycling to coincide with the launch of UMC's student-led campus-wide recycling initiative. This year, the students were allowed to focus on an aspect of the environment that they're passionate about. Not only has the number of posters entered grown each year, Knutson said he believes that the placement of recycling-related posters throughout the UMC campus has played a critical role in the success of UMC's recycling efforts.

"They remind students and others on our campus of UMC's commitment to recycling and the importance of recycling," he said. "I hope that families who visit area environmental centers learn from the students' posters; they teach children that protecting our environment is our best way to insure that the diversity of life will be sustained for future generations."

Earth Day was celebrated across the globe for the 32nd time this past April.