|
PRESS RELEASE Date: June 29, 2005 Contacts: Bassima Mustafa (201-741-1062), Maha Kabbash (973-722-4208), The American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee, New Jersey Chapter For Immediate Release The New Jersey Chapter of American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC-NJ) is proud to announce that it has selected Ms. Fahmida Ahmed, of John F. Kennedy High School in Paterson, New Jersey, as the winner of its Annual Essay Contest. Earlier this spring, ADC-NJ invited all graduating seniors at JFK High School to submit an essay addressing the theme: Achieving a Balance Between Civil Liberties and National Security. Ms. Ahmed’s essay most articulately addressed this delicate balance and offered solutions to protect fundamental civil liberties. ADC-NJ will award Ms. Ahmed $500 to assist her with educational expenses as she begins college. The Essay Contest, a yearly tradition begun by ADC-NJ in 2004, seeks to engage high school students in a discussion about the need to protect civil liberties and fight discrimination, while also assisting them to defray the costs of their higher education. Bassima Mustafa, ADC-NJ Education Committee Chair, commented: “Ms. Ahmed is commended for her thoughts and ideas. Her essay addresses the issues that all Americans are facing today. She expresses the contradictions within the Patriot Act and how the long standing tradition and identity of the United States as a melting pot is threatened by such legislation as well as solutions to maintaining our national security.” Ms. Ahmed is the oldest of seven children. On June 23, she will graduate JFK High School to attend Rutgers University and is interested in Business and Accounting. She is the first in her family to attend an institution of higher learning. While in high school, she was a member of the National Honor Society, the Science Club, the Environmental Club, FTA (Future Teachers of America), and the ROOTS Program at Ramapo College, in which she counseled students in sixth through eighth grades. She also won second place statewide for individual performance in the National History Day Competition. She has done a substantial amount of community work at the Glen Rock Recycling Center and St. Joseph Medical Center. Her other high school honors include the Golden Apple Award, Healthy Mothers and Healthy Babies Essay Contest, and the Merit Award in math, science, trigonometry and chemistry. ADC-NJ congratulates Ms. Ahmed on her numerous accomplishments and wishes her the best of luck as she takes on what we are sure will be a very bright future. Please click here to view a copy of the essay
|
|
|
|
