11/12/96 Contact: Marvin Fletcher, 614/593-4334

ATHENS, Ohio -- The final round of Ohio University's 50th Annual American History contest is scheduled for Dec. 5 on the Athens campus, with the first place winner receiving a four-year, full tuition Ohio University scholarship and $100. Students will also receive over $600 in cash awards.

More than 17,500 students at 392 Ohio high schools took the preliminary multiple choice examination at their local high schools in October.

In the preliminary round, Neeraj Gupta, of Summit Country Day School in Cincinnati, was the top scorer, answering 73 out of 80 questions correctly. Gupta will receive the Carl Gustavson Book Award, named in honor of an Ohio University Distinguished Professor Emeritus in History. This year's book is Man of the People by Ohio University Distinguished Professor of History Alonzo Hamby.

In addition to the top scorer, those eligible for the final round's three-question essay examination include the highest scorer in each of Ohio's 88 counties, and all county scores in the 99th percentile of scores for all entrants, or the second and third highest scorer from each county if ranked in the 95th percentile.

The second, third, fourth and fifth place winners will receive one-year Ohio University scholarship of $1,500. The sixth through twelfth place winner will receive $1,250 Ohio University tuition scholarships.

Outstanding High School awards of $150 and $100 will go to the six schools with the largest number of winners in the two rounds.

Participants will be notified by Jan. 20, 1997 of the results of their essay examinations.

The contest is sponsored by the Ohio University College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of History and the Admissions Office, and is directed by Professor of History Marvin Fletcher.