Is this for real? Yep, it's for real. It is backed by a $10,000 endowment, enough to fund this annual award in perpetuity. What's the award for? It's to recognize Uni students who exhibit spontaneous creativity. Unbidden originality. Thinking outside the box. Coloring outside the lines of the coloring book. The nontraditional, the unconventional, the unexpected. Extraordinary acts in ordinary circumstances. Who's behind this? The Class of 1972, a fairly typical Uni High assortment of misfits, eccentrics, and mad geniuses. How often is the award presented? Didn't we just say it's annual? It is presented at the Uni awards ceremony at the end of each school year. What do winners get? There is a cash prize of $150. That's not all: Winners have their names engraved on a plaque permanently on display in the school. They also receive an attractive certificate of Wyldeness, suitable for framing. The certificate features state-of-the-art Blank Back Side (BBS) technology, leaving a full 50% of its surface area available for any use your imagination might devise. Who is eligible? Any organism of the species Homo sapiens sapiens who is enrolled as a student at Uni for any part of the school year. Does it have to be a single individual? What if a group of students collaborate on something? Any group of eligible individuals can be nominated as a group. (If they win, they'll have to split the $150.) Does it have to be for something wacky, funny, or zany? No. Just because we made fools of ourselves on a regular basis doesn't mean that you have to. Can it be for something that fulfills a school assignment, or does it have to be completely spontaneous? The more spontaneous, the better. But we're not going to arbitrarily restrict what kinds of activities qualify because, after all, we're looking for people to do things we never would have thought of. So are there no limits? Does anything go? Almost! But we won't reward anything harmful, hateful, hurtful, destructive, illegal, or excessively dangerous to life and limb. Come on. Are you telling me YOU never did anything like that? Ummm... We'll have to plead the fifth. The point is, we'd like to encourage acts of creativity that will not only be fun at the time, but will still be good memories after you've matured into responsible, upstanding citizens like we now pretend to be. We don't want to encourage things that will make you cringe when you remember them 25 years hence. Who has won in the past, and what have they done to deserve it? Look here to find out. Who can submit nominations? Any member of the Uni student body, faculty, or staff can submit nominations. Students can even nominate themselves. How do I submit a nomination? Submit nominations to advancement director Karen Cooley (kcooley@uni.uiuc.edu). You can leave documentation in her mailbox in the main office or drop it off at Hue House. What should a nomination include? The essential items are: Your name and position at the school (student, teacher, elevator operator, etc.) Full name(s) of the student(s) you are nominating, and their class year(s). Description of the work, product, activity, or event you would like the judges to consider. Description of the context in which it was done. If it was done for a school assignment, what was the assignment? Brief explanation of why you think it deserves recognition. You may also include: A copy of the work itself, if it's on paper or easily transportable. Documentation such as photos, drawings, or articles. Comments and endorsements from teachers, students, or other eyewitnesses. Audio tapes, videotapes, etc. - but keep in mind that materials that can be more easily posted on the Web will be easier for the judges to view. Nominations that include good documentation stand a better chance of winning. If you can possibly submit your materials in digital form by e-mail, on a computer disk, or on the Web, we'll send happy thoughts and moonbeams in your direction, because it will save us a lot of trouble. But we'll try to work with whatever you give us. What's the deadline for nominations? April 3 is the deadline for submitting nominations. Note! Deadline extended to April 10, 2008! You'll improve your chances by submitting any supporting documentation early, especially if it includes videotapes, audio tapes, cuneiform tablets, or other stuff that can't easily be posted on the Web, because the judges might have to pass your materials around by snailmail. April 17 is the final deadline for submitting documentation. We won't look at anything submitted later. This is an absolute, positive, definite deadline. No exceptions, not even if you look up at us pleadingly with your big brown eyes, your lower lip quivering pathetically. How are winners chosen? The winner is selected by a committee of judges from the Class of '72 and other Uni alumni who have proven their wyldeness by winning the award themselves in past years. Nominees are judged on the basis of their originality and their contribution to the enlightenment, enrapturement, and overall effervescence of humanity. The committee may employ a variety of techniques in the judging process, including, but not limited to, throwing darts, examining chicken entrails, and seeking the advice of faculty members. Decisions of the judges are final. I don't like all your stupid rules. What if I just make up my own award? Good idea! We might even give you a Wylde Q. Chicken award for that. Who is Wylde Q. Chicken, anyway? Along with the yeti and the Loch Ness monster, the identity of Wylde Q. Chicken ranks as one of the world's great unsolved mysteries. Some people who claim to have experienced close encounters with Wylde Q. describe him as a small wire man that David Woolley fashioned by hand in art class and kept hanging in his locker. Others say he was a real live chicken from the University farm whose photo appeared in the 1972 Uni yearbook. Skeptics argue that he's just an imaginary character invented by Jeff Becker during freshman math. The full truth might never be known. How frequently are these questions asked, really? Constantly! Well, pretty often, anyhow. More than you'd think, if you never thought about it. Why did the chicken cross the road? Because she wanted to walk on the Wylde side.