Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Laura Brown has announced 10 winners of the 2009 New Student Reading Project essay contest. Incoming freshmen and new transfer students received a list of study questions over the summer along with a copy of this year's book -- John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath"-- and were asked to write a short response to one of the questions.

Winners each receive $200 worth of books from the Cornell Store and have their essays published on the Reading Project Web site (http://reading.cornell.edu).

The winners are:

• Spencer Chen of San Jose, Calif., a prospective biology major in the College of Arts and Sciences;
• Erik Johnson of Oregon, a freshman in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), interested in studying biology, ecology and natural resources;
• Michael Alexander Kats-Rubin of Austin, Texas, a CALS student interested in studying environmental business and policy. He is on the policy debate team and works at Cornell's Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva on a project to expand conservation efforts and energy efficiency;
• Nancy Li of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, a chemical biology major in the College of Arts and Sciences;
• Chase Meyer of Orange County, Calif., who is studying microbiology and virology in CALS. He is interested in HIV/AIDS research;
• Kate Pascucci of Syracuse, N.Y., a sophomore transfer from SUNY Binghamton in CALS, majoring in communication. She is interested in writing and critical analysis. As a legacy, she says she has wanted to study at Cornell her entire life;
• Da Eun Seong, an economics and chemistry major in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is South Korean but lived for 14 years in China, where she attended the Shanghai American School;
• Emma Sheldon, a fine arts major in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning. She was born and raised in Singapore, where she lived until coming to Cornell this fall;
• Emily Throwe from Wading River, N.Y., an animal science major in CALS who is planning to pursue a career in veterinary medicine; and
• Laura Van Winkle, a junior transfer student from Tompkins-Cortland Community College and a communication major in CALS.