The 2007 Schubmehl-Prein Prize for Best Essay on the Social Impact of Computing Kevin Bowyer and Dianne Martin The Schubmehl-Prein Competition is open each year to high school juniors. The firstplace prize is $1,000, the second-place prize is $500, and the third-place prize is $250. Winning entries have also traditionally been published in the Association for Computing Machinery ™s Computers and Society online magazine. The winners of the 2007 Schubmehl-Prein Competition are: First place: David Martinez, Damien High School, California Second place: Tunlewa Soyinka, Damien High School, California Third place: Maria Lee, Hillsdale Academy, Michigan There were two unusual aspects of this year ™s competition. One is that the only school from which multiple entries were received is Damien High School in La Verne, California. The second aspect, undoubtedly related to the first, is that the top two prizes went to students from the same school. This is the second time that the top two winners have come from the same school. In 2005, the top two winners were from Greenwood High School in Indiana. Entries to this year ™s competition again came from throughout the United States, including high schools in California, Indiana, Michigan, Virginia, New York, and Florida. We thank all of the students who entered, and all of the teachers who worked with them, for their time and effort. The purpose of the Schubmehl-Prein competition is to encourage students to develop a broader and deeper understanding of how computing technology impacts our society. Our society needs future leaders who have the ability to make well-considered judgments about the social impact of technology. The competition is open to high-school juniors who rank in the top one-fifth of the class at their school. The topic for the competition is selected each year by the judges, Professor Kevin W. Bowyer at the University of Notre Dame and Professor C. Dianne Martin at the George Washington University. The topic for the 2007 competition was: What is needed to secure the software that controls our nation's critical infrastructure? Previous years ™ competitions have dealt with topics such as electronic voting and privacy issues in video surveillance. The Schubmehl-Prein competition is supported through the Schubmehl-Prein Family Chair endowment at the University of Notre Dame. The endowment was established in 1989 as a gift from H. Edward Prein and his wife, June (Schubmehl) Prein, in memory of June's father, Raymond J. Schubmehl, a member of the Notre Dame Engineering faculty for 50 years. Raymond Schumbehl received his bachelor's degree in engineering in 1921, and was the valedictorian of his class. During his career as a faculty member at Notre Dame, he served as professor, assistant dean, and acting dean of the College of Engineering. As a teacher, advisor and administrator, he was an integral part of the College of Engineering's development. The topic for the 2008 competition is “ What should be the ethical and legal responsibilities of the providers and the users of resources such as Facebook, YouTube and blogs? Details of the 2008 competition are available on the web page: http://www.cse.nd.edu/EssayContest/ SIGCAS Computers and Society, Volume 38, No. 1, March 2008 7

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