meaningful – Fountain Magazine

The Fountain Essay Contest 2021-2022

The Fountain — Tue, 11 Jan 2022 04:20:07 +0000

The Fountain Essay Contest 2021-2022: REVIVAL

After a long dormancy in this Covid era, our lives seem to be taking off for a fresh start. Vaccination is speeding up, people are mostly cautious in their interactions with less handshakes and kisses, and despite ups and downs in new cases and deaths, signs for “revival” are getting more visible every passing day.

What does revival mean to you? How do you revive?
Is getting back to “normal” a revival when there is a new normal every day? What is your new normal?
Having faced the reality of death grievously during the pandemic, what would “revival” mean to those who lost their lives and to their loved ones left behind?
How has your perception of life changed as we have realized our fragility and could not prevent the loss of millions?
Do you believe in revival after death, and how did you rely on these beliefs during the pandemic?

Writing is an important to heal ourselves. We are expecting your essays on “revival” to hear your story which can be a source of healing for you and others.

Submissions to be posted: December 1, 2021 – April 1, 2022
Deadline for submissions: April 1, 2022
Contest open to all writers worldwide
Ideal word count to be between 1,500 and 2,500
For submissions check out www.fountainmagazine.com

Cash prizes

1st Place – $1,000
2nd Place – $500
3rd Place – $300
Two Honorable Mentions – $150 each

THEME

What qualifies a good essay?

An essay that you feel your heart rests more comfortably on. The more concise an essay, the more acceptable it is. Its authenticity and uniqueness, and how elaborately you put your theme into words so that others are inspired from it.

REFERENCES

Do we have to include references, bibliography, notes, etc. as in an academic journal?

The Fountain is not a journal. Thus, we do not expect a full scale reference list for all the information you provide. But, we encourage contributors to provide at least a reasonable number of references (not more than four or five) especially for the arguments borrowed from other sources, as it would make your work more reliable. If the kind of information you provide needs citation, please provide it; but essays with lengthy references are not preferred. Some reference and recommendations for further reading may help readers who are interested in the essay. Accuracy of data is expected in essays in which information provided needs sourcing. An essay based on personal experience does not require citation, and it is equally acceptable.

WORD COUNT

Does the word count limit include the bibliography or just the essay itself?

The Fountain is not a full-scale academic journal, so we expect authors to keep references to a maximum of four or five. Notes can be more. References and notes do not make a big change in word count which is advised to be between 1,500 and 2,500. A range is always necessary to be able to have an objective measure in terms of size.

STYLE

What kind of writing style do you expect? Can we use informal phrases? Is this essay supposed to be a personal opinion piece, or more of a scholarly supported article?

In writing style, we mainly seek consistency. We prefer the Chicago Manual of Style, but if you are more familiar with another style, that is also acceptable. Some informal usage can be OK in a certain essay, but not in another. It is basically the author’s call.

Would an essay in the short story genre qualify for the contest?

As long as your theme is skillfully woven through its structure, and if it upholds The Fountain’s values and principles, yes.

PUBLISHING

Are you going to publish submitted essays anywhere?

We might publish submissions in The Fountain, both the print and web editions, even if the essays did not win any prize. By submitting your essay to this contest, you agree that you give permission to The Fountain to publish it in any medium.

As the copyright holders before published, the authors have the right to submit their work elsewhere on condition that they notify The Fountain in advance.

NUMBER OF ENTRY

Can I submit more than one essay?

No. One entry per person.

DISQUALIFICATION

What makes an essay disqualified?

Offensive and devotional essays — particularly essays that emphasize superiority of a specific worldview or derogating a specific worldview—will be disqualified. Essays that “propagate” a certain spiritual order, a religious denomination, a spiritual leader, or a political activist, etc. in a way that subordinates all other faiths and traditions are considered devotional and will be disqualified.
Title is missing – Do not forget to put a title. Titles are important for readers and reviewers to see what lies in the center of your message. Missing title will disqualify your submission.
Submissions already published elsewhere are not accepted.

EVALUATION

Who will determine the winners? Can you explain more specifically what you are looking for in a winner?

The winners will be determined by our board who will decide according to the literary effectiveness of the essay in reflecting the philosophy behind the motto, richness in content, and authenticity.

All submitted essays will be evaluated using the following criteria.

Relevance to the contest theme (40 points)
Innovation & creativity (30 points)
Writing style and structure (30 points)

SUBMISSION

How am I going to submit my essay?

Submissions are over as of April 1st. Thank you all for your interest!

DEADLINE

When is the last day for submissions?

April 1, 2022

ELIGIBILITY

Who is eligible to participate in this contest?

There is no age limit or a condition to fulfill for entry. The contest is open to all who want to share his or her ideas with us.

The Fountain Essay Contest 2020 – 2021

The Fountain — Sat, 07 Nov 2020 04:20:07 +0000

My COVID-19 Story: Reflections on Life and Human Existence During the Pandemic

Submissions to be posted: November 1, 2020 – March 1, 2021

The Coronavirus touched virtually every corner of the globe and almost every person’s life in some way. Hundreds of thousands have already died, and. its economic ramifications have been disastrous. Individuals have been separated from extended family members and communities; schools and places of worship have been closed.

We want to hear your COVID-19 story. What has the virus taught you about life? If you were not infected, what has your experience been like as an “outsider?”

How did you manage to cope with quarantine, change of routines, loss of social interaction, and perhaps a decreased sense of community?
If you are a religious person, what was it like when your place of worship was closed? How did you feel about God during this “calamity”?
Have your thoughts on the meaning and purpose of life been affected?

We encourage our contestants to explore this issue in a way that is most meaningful to them, and to do so while making sure to avoid speculative narratives and political polarization.

Deadline for submissions: March 1, 2021. Winners will be announced on May 31, 2021.
Contest open to all writers worldwide
Ideal word count to be between 1,500 and 2,500

Cash prizes

1st Place – $1,000
2nd Place – $500
3rd Place – $300
Two Honorable Mentions – $150 each

Frequently Asked Questions

THEME
REFERENCES
WORD COUNT
STYLE
PUBLISHING
NUMBER OF ENTRY
DISQUALIFICATION
EVALUATION
SUBMISSION
DEADLINE
WINNERS
ELIGIBILITY

THEME

What qualifies a good essay?

REFERENCES

Do we have to include references, bibliography, notes, etc. as in an academic journal?

WORD COUNT

Does the word count limit include the bibliography or just the essay itself?

STYLE

What kind of writing style do you expect? Can we use informal phrases? Is this essay supposed to be a personal opinion piece, or more of a scholarly supported article?

Would an essay in the short story genre qualify for the contest?

As long as your theme is skillfully woven through its structure, and if it upholds The Fountain’s values and principles, yes.

PUBLISHING

Are you going to publish submitted essays anywhere?

As the copyright holders before published, the authors have the right to submit their work elsewhere on condition that they notify The Fountain in advance.

NUMBER OF ENTRY

Can I submit more than one essay?

No. One entry per person.

DISQUALIFICATION

What makes an essay disqualified?

Offensive and devotional essays—particularly essays that emphasize superiority of a specific worldview or derogating a specific worldview—will be disqualified. Essays that “propagate” a certain spiritual order, a religious denomination, a spiritual leader, or a political activist, etc. in a way that subordinates all other faiths and traditions are considered devotional and will be disqualified.
Title is missing – Do not forget to put a title. Titles are important for readers and reviewers to see what lies in the center of your message. Missing title will disqualify your submission.

EVALUATION

Who will determine the winners? Can you explain more specifically what you are looking for in a winner?

The winners will be determined by our board who will decide according to the literary effectiveness of the essay in reflecting the philosophy behind the motto, richness in content, and authenticity.

All submitted essays will be evaluated using the following criteria.

Relevance to the contest theme (40 points)
Innovation & creativity (30 points)
Writing style and structure (30 points)

SUBMISSION

How am I going to submit my essay?

Submissions for this content are now over. Good luck!

DEADLINE

When is the last day for submissions?

March 1, 2021

WINNERS

When will the winners be announced?

May 31, 2021.

ELIGIBILITY

Who is eligible to participate in this contest?

There is no age limit or a condition to fulfill for entry. The contest is open to all who want to share his or her ideas with us.

Turning the Unknown and the Different Into the Familiar and the Friendly

The Fountain — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 23:26:50 +0000

December 2, 2015. A mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, following a devastating attack in Paris, France. Anti-Muslim rhetoric mushrooms, but how can I, one person, respond?

December 6, 2015. A hastily arranged interfaith service at Temple Beth Or, Washington Township, New Jersey, is attended by an overflow crowd of almost 400 people. The clergy, representing 18 congregations of the three Abrahamic faiths, walk to their seats as the Woodie Guthrie song, “This Land Is Your Land” is sung. The service gets underway with a call to prayer by a member of the Elzahara Islamic Center of Midland Park, New Jersey, and continues with additional prayers from each of the clergy. One priest from a Catholic Church in Ridgewood, New Jersey, ascends to the podium and asks everyone to take 15 minutes, introduce themselves to someone they don’t know, and “Pass the Peace.” This 15-minute interval turns into a seminal moment for me as “the other” that surrounds me becomes “the individual” – the mother, the student, the neighbor, each concerned about the same issues as I am.

This evening had a profound impact on me, and I still think of it often. It spurred me to approach my Jewish synagogue community and invite them to engage in an outreach program with representatives of the Muslim community. I had no illusions that this would solve the world’s problems, but I hoped it might be a spark to lift a veil in my tiny little corner of New Jersey. And thus began an ongoing journey to take the hand of our Muslim neighbors and turn the unknown and the different into the familiar and the friendly.

Over the ensuing years we have gathered together for various programs. We started with a Friendship Circle to introduce ourselves to one another, watched a documentary movie, BESA – The Promise, and subsequently The Turkish Passport, and discussed what we saw and heard. We invited our Muslim friends to participate in some of our synagogue services, some interfaith and some not. During one Sunday morning Minyan service, two central Jewish life cycle events took place – a baby naming for a newborn girl, and a 13-year-old leading the service one week before his Bar Mitzvah. Questions were casually asked and answered over our bagel breakfast (accompanied by both rugalach and baklava!). This turned into a tour of our sanctuary, led by our Rabbi and accompanied by a number of congregants. The Rabbi took the Torah scroll from the ark so it could be seen up close by everyone. She opened it and chanted that week’s Torah portion, which just happened to be about Hagar and Ishmael! The Rabbi along with our members explained the meaning of the various symbols around the sanctuary – how our prayer books are in both Hebrew and English, what the threads and knots (tzizit) of our prayer shawls represent, why only some of our memorial board lights were lit, etc. The otherness melted away as we engaged one another in vibrant conversation and dialogue.

One of the most moving interactions we experienced was when one of our members, a child survivor of Auschwitz and a longtime Hebrew school teacher, told her emotional story to a Muslim teen group, which left everyone with tears in their eyes. This included a question and answer session that touched everyone who participated. Our membership was invited to an Iftar dinner that year, during which we came to understand the purpose and meaning of the daytime fasting. We were recently invited to visit a local mosque, which was the first time any of us had stepped inside one. We had so many questions, and they were answered beautifully and passionately. We all sat, shoeless, in a circle, and those of us who are Jewish nodded our heads as the number of parallels between our faith practices became apparent. During Ramadan this year, our synagogue hosted an Iftar dinner. Kosher food was graciously brought into our kitchen, and three very dedicated Muslim volunteers spent several hours preparing traditional recipes for our dinner as we chatted and enjoyed each other’s company.

One by one by one, foundational connections have been made between our Jewish congregants and our Muslims friends. We have learned so much about one another: we have talked about our families, showed each other pictures of our children’s weddings, shared our families’ immigration experiences, exchanged phone numbers, and promised to see each other again soon.

The world is a complicated place, and there are no easy answers to the issues that confront us. But we each have the power to step outside our comfort zone, and just decide to take that first leap of faith. The opportunities to engage with one another in a meaningful way are all around us, and the rewards far outweigh the effort. Not only do we reap the benefits ourselves, but we have the potential opportunity to “pay it forward” by sharing our stories of these meaningful and memorable interactions, and maybe, just maybe, inspiring someone else to do the same!

As Jews, one of our overriding objectives is to participate in what is called “Tikkun Olam – Repairing the World.” This implies that while the world is inherently good, there is always room for us to improve it, and I would like to believe that I have contributed, in whatever small way, towards that end. In a world that undoubtedly is in need of a great deal of repair, please join in by taking that first small step alongside me and let us walk together.

Is DNA Everything?

Louima Cunningham — Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 +0000

Over the last couple of years, we have heard a great deal about cloning, a scientific procedure that produces an exact copy of a living organism without fertilization. These discussions began after a team of scientists in Scotland announced, on 27 February 1997, that they had cloned a lamb named Dolly from the breast cell of a sheep.

As this news spread throughout the world, people began to ask if one day a human being could be cloned. Certainly, at least in theory, it seemed possible. Some people even claimed that it would be a good idea to clone such geniuses as Einstein and others who had passed away. On the other hand, others argued that such knowledge could lead to cloning such people as Hitler, and that this was reason enough never to open the door to this potentially dangerous technology.

The role of environment

But is DNA everything? Is DNA the only item that makes us human? Case studies of same egg twins’ show that there is more to us than DNA. Researchers have noticed that such twins, despite having the same DNA and being brought up mainly in the same environment and the same manner, somehow follow different paths, acquire unique personalities, and show evidence of different characteristics, although they may show similarities during childhood. Thus we can see that environment is an important factor on human behavior.

Used in this context, environment refers to the surrounding society, culture, belief, and moral values in other words, that which separates human beings from animals. DNA, the acronym used for a person’s genetic code, plays the key role in the beginning of any biological life form. This key molecule functions similarly in both animals and plants to produce living cells.

Human beings have a special life-giving feature: the soul. Although its nature remains a mystery, its existence is felt deeply in the conscience and gives us a distinct nature that is not shared by non-human life forms. Although a person’s first biological body is evident in the DNA even before it assumes an identity, it is the soul that determines his or her character and temper. Another shaping factor that should not be underestimated is the surrounding society (e.g., family, school, and economy) that unites with the soul and contours the body.

The era in which one lives also has a role in determining one’s character. Given that a society is made up of individuals, it is subject to changes in moral values over time. Thus it is quite likely that if Einstein or Hitler were cloned, the resulting person would be an ordinary contemporary man who is obsessed with sports cars and the Internet, and a man who carries his cellular phone wherever he goes.

What made Hitler a monster was the era and society in which he lived, not his genes. What made Einstein a genius was the chance to explore and use his own capabilities and intelligence. It is quite certain that genes are the sole parameters that affect a person’s intelligence and other intellectual features. In addition, the wonderful and unknown nature of a human being would be more conclusive and understandable if the complex interactions between the spiritual properties and cultural effects were taken together as a whole.

The role of the soul

People can be cloned. In fact, clones that are biologically similar and yet behaviorally unique would be the best proof of the soul’s existence. Since the soul cannot be cloned, as it issues from a different world, cloning a person’s body may not be that dangerous. But it also would not make any sense. Moreover, the cloned individual could end up as a dangerous animal.

Consider the following example of inter-species breeding: When a horse and a donkey are mated, the resulting animal is a non-fertile hybrid. If a female horse and a male donkey are mated, the result is a non-fertile mule. If a male horse and a female donkey are mated, the result is a smaller and weaker animala hinny. But since half of the DNA comes from each animal and thus each hybrid offspring has the same DNA, how can this difference be explained? Obviously, the DNA contained within the mitochondria of the female horse’s egg cell makes a huge difference.

Other issues

The patent dilemma: The patent (copyright) system prevents any illegal copying and imitating and ensures that the actual researcher and inventor is rewarded. Drugs and chemical substances are the most patented items in medicine. After a large portion of the human DNA puzzle was solved, the issue of how to patent this information was put on the American agenda.

President Clinton declared that most parts of human DNA had been determined. However, such information was not to be placed in the hands of humanity at large, for the pharmaceutical companies had spent vast sums of money to produce this information. Also, it would be a serious violation of basic commercial sense for the companies to just give this information to the general public for free.

In addition, paying for the copyrights to acquire the technology does not mean that you are totally free to with it what you want, for these same copyrights limit the usage of that particular technology. This means that if cures are found for AIDS, cancer, and other currently incurable diseases, only the wealthy will be able to afford them.

Determining does not mean understanding: DNA consists of exons and introns. Exons form the meaningful parts of DNA by uniting with each other. We call the result genes. Introns are the non-meaningful parts of DNA. What is interesting here is that these non-meaningful introns make up 97 percent of all DNA. One wonders if they have functions, other than protecting and shielding the meaningful parts from external radiation and ultraviolet light, that are unknown to contemporary scientists? For example, each human cell contains about 4 meters of DNA chain in its nucleus. Surprisingly, introns and exons are represented by the same symbolic letters (A, C, G, and T), so determining the DNA chain is nothing more than a new beginning. The more important task is to identify the genes made of exons, which are non-trivially embedded into the introns.

The exact number of human genes remains unknown. According to some scientists, this number is either 25,000 or 32,000. Determining the DNA chain written with a four-letter alphabet is like trying to determine the meaning of an ancient inscription. Just seeing what it looks like does not mean that one can read it, for the latter is far more difficult than the former. This suggests that just determining the DNA chain is not enough, and that truly understanding the genes and their exact locations requires more time.

Conclusion

Human DNA has been determined, but we must remember that there are as many combinations as there are people. Also, the claim that DNA has been determined’ is true only for a select group of people. Human DNA differs from race to race, society to society, and even from disease to disease. Thus it will take more time to develop a full comparative table of human DNA. It would be great if our current technology somehow could devise a single formula to represent the gene map of every individual.

References

Anderson, Kenneth N. (ed.), Lois E. Anderson (ed.), and Walter D. Glanze. Mosby’s Medical Dictionary. 5th ed. Mosby Year Book, Inc.: 1997.
Erturk, Hikmet, DNA Her Sey mi?’ Siziniti, no. 269 (June 2001): 228-29. Translated by Emrah Altunkaya.