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Future City 2012 eNews: 12/1/11

This is a busy time of year for us all. With two Future City deadlines it gets even more hectic. I hope the information included in this eNews will help you through the process. Included today:
  • Essay Tips from the Lead Judge Mark Stevens
  • Submitting your Research Essay and City Narrative
  • Repeat of Submitting your Virtual City
  • Update List of Special Awards
  • Deadline Options and Future City Lite 

Essay Tips

Dear Future Cities Abstract and Essay Writers,

 

I’m the English professor at Southern Polytechnic who will be leading a team of SPSU professors who will be reading and rating your abstracts and essays.  We’ve been doing this for over six years now, and I’d like to share some tips with you about how you can get a good score from us.  Here are some pointers:

 

For the City Narrative:

  • Be sure to answer all five questions in the City Narrative section, which you can find at http://futurecity.org/narrative/guide. 
  • Take a peek too at the 8-item rubric that the judges and I will be using to grade your narrative.

 

For the Research Essay

  • Be sure you cover all four major parts of the essay.  You can find these parts (and sub-parts) at <http://futurecity.org/essay/outline>.  We’ll be looking for evidence of each of these.

 

  • When you list the references you used in researching you essay, don’t just give a website url—include also the title of the website, the sponsor, and the author (if there is one).  Use a standard format, such as APA, MLA, or Chicago.

 

  • When you proofread your essay, do it out loud.  It’s much easier to catch grammatical errors with your ear than with your eye.

 

The final pointer is to take a look at the score sheets in the Future Cities Research Essay Rubric at http://futurecity.org/sites/default/files/fc_rubric_researchessay.pdf. These 25 criteria are exactly what the judges and I will be using as we rate your writing.  Write your essay to fit the criteria in the score sheets and you should produce a strong essay.

 

We’re looking forward to reading your descriptions.  Believe me, we learn a lot from you when we judge!

 

Sincerely,

 

Dr. Mark Stevens

Associate Professor

English, Technical Communication, and Media Arts Department

Southern Polytechnic State University

 

Submitting Your Essays

The deadline for initial submission for both the Research Essay and City Narrative is Friday December 16, 2011. You will actually be summitting 4 items that day: 1. The Research Essay, 2.  The City Narrative, 3.  The Research Essay Form, and 4. The City Narrative Form. (The last two forms can be found in your handbooks or on the national site. They do need to be submitted but are not subject to deadline point deductions.)  

 

You may choose to submit all of these documents via email directly to me dramsey@spsu.edu but be sure to follow the naming convention described below so that we can easily track your documents through the system.

 

1. You may submit these items any time after December 5, 2011

2.  Send both essays as Word ducuments. Do not send PDF files.

3.  For the Research Essay please adhere to the following naming convention:

 

   FC2012 RE Your city Name Your School Name.doc

 

for example if I were submitting a Research essay I would name the document:  FC2012 RE Dawn City SPSU.doc

You may abreviate your school name as I did or spell it out.

 

4.  For the City Narrative please adhere to the following naming convention:

 

     FC2012 CN Your City Name Your School Name.doc

 

for example if I were submitting a City Narrative I would name the document: FC2012 CN Dawn City SPSU.doc  

 

5.  In the Subject of your email to me please mark it FC 2012 RE for your Research Essay and FC 2012 CN for your City Narrative.

 

6.  Email these files to me at dramsey@spsu.edu

 

If you prefer to send the documents through the mail on a CD, you may do so. Be sure to send in protective envelops. Mail to:

Dawn Ramsey

2012 FC

SPSU

1100 So. Marietta Parkway

Marietta, GA 30060

 

 

Submitting your Virtual City

This information can also be found at: http://luna.spsu.edu/asc/upload/savingyourcity.html  You should also submit your Virtual City Benchmark Form. Pleae completet this form and send to me via email attachment to dramsey@spsu.edu. 

Saving and Sending Your City

Important: Please send the entire Medium City region folder to ensure that all changes you have made to your region are seen by the judges. Failure to do so may result in your city scoring lower.

      1. Login to the operating system using your account.
        If you do not login using the same user account that you used to create your city, it will not appear. You must use the same account when logging in every time.
      2. Browse to your "My Documents" ("Documents" on the Apple version) folder and locate the "SimCity 4" folder, and finally the "Regions" folder inside of the SimCity 4 folder.
        If the "SimCity 4" folder is not there, make sure that you are logging in with the same account you have been using to create your city.
      3. Right click on the folder with the same name as your region. Go to "Sent To" and then click on "Compressed (zipped) Folder".
        If you are using an Apple computer, you may perform the same process by Control-clicking on the folder and selecting "Create Archive".
        descriptive picture showing how to submit your virtual city

        If you do not know the name of your region, you can find the name by opening SimCity 4. In the bottom area of the screen that you select your city from, you will see your region name.

        picture showing how to find city name
      4. Another file will appear alongside your region folder with the same name as your region. This is the file that you need to send to submit your city. It is recommended that you rename the new file with a name that will identify the school and city name. For example, if your main city was called Defactoville and you are from Southern Polytechnic Middle School, you could rename the file "Southern Poly - Defactoville".
        To rename a file, right click on it, and select "Rename" or press F2 with the file selected. If you are on an Apple computer, pressing the Enter key with the file selected will begin the rename process. You can then type in your name for the file. When you are finished, press the Enter key.
      5. In order to properly submit your city, you must submit the entire region that your city is located in. The zip file you have just created and renamed will be the file that you submit.

        To send your city, please visit the following address and attach your file using the file attachment tool: http://www.file.spsu.edu
      6. . Please enter futurecitysubmission@spsu.edu into the destination field.

        Important
        Please fill in all optional information. It is important that we identify which school sent the file as well as the city name. Any other identifying information is also helpful.
      7. Once you have received the confirmation, your city has been submitted for the 2010 Georgia Regional Future City Competition. Congratulations!
If the file is too large to send then you may mail it to us on a CD.
      Although either method will work, it is recommended that you submit it online to ensure safe and fast delivery. Please mail the CD in safe packaging to:

      Future City (attn: Dawn Ramsey)

      Academic Support Center, C-133

      Southern Polytechnic State University

      1100 South Marietta Parkway

    Marietta, GA 30060

 

Special Award List for 2012

1.     Jackie Winchester People's Choice Award

2.     Best Transportation System - Georgia Department of Transportation

3.     Overall Project Excellence - IEEE

4.     Best Power Generation System - IEEE

5.     Best City Design - School of Computing and Software Engineering (CSE)

6.     Most Innovative Infrastructure System - Division of Engineering (DOE)

7.     Best Use of Recycled Materials - MicroSoft

8.     Best Integrated City - Microsoft

9.     Most Sustainable City Design – Construction Management Department

10.   Best Urban Design – AIA Atlanta

11.   Most Sustainable Buildings - GGBC

12.   Most Innovative Design - SPSU Architecture Department   

13.   Best Residential Zone - AVPAA

14.   Best Engineering Concept

15.   Best City Services 

16.   Accessible City Award

17.   Best Management of Water Resources

18.   Best Fire Protection Engineering

19 .  Most Sustainable Food Production System

20.   Best Communication System

 

 

Deadline Options and Future City Lite

The posted deadlines for the competitiona re Dec 2 for the Virtual City Design and Dec 16 for the Essays. Teams that cannot meet these deadlines can still submit these items (point may be deducted) as long as they are submitted by January 6, 2012. That is the last date to submit files for evaluation so that the points can be included in the January 21, 2012 competition.

 

Schools new to Future City in 2012 do have one other option - Future City Lite. Many times new schools get overwhelmed with the vairous components of Future City and get behind on the Virutal City Design and the Essays. New schools have to option of still competing in Future City by brining their scale model and presentation to the competition. While they will not have points for the essays and virtual city, the can still compete in the priliminary round and are eligible for Special Awards. By choosing to compete in Future city Lite, you students have the opportunity to participate in the competition and get energized for the full competition in future years. Seeing the enthusiam of other teams, viewing all the models, and experiencing "competition day" is a great benefit to the students. So, consider Future City Lite as an alternative to dorpping out.  
 

Dawn

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