Date

September 6, 1996

Dear Colleague:

The Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS) is unveiling a
new competition to promote student involvement and excellence in arctic
research. Winners of the "1st Annual ARCUS Award for Arctic Research
Excellence" will receive $500 cash and travel funds to present their papers
at the ARCUS-sponsored Arctic Forum. Entries must be submitted by December
2, 1996.

Contestants must be registered undergraduate or graduate student at the
time of submission. Up to three papers may be awarded. Each winner will
receive $500 cash and travel funds to attend the spring 1997 ARCUS annual
meeting and "Arctic Forum" to present the paper and receive the award.

The papers may address any aspect of Arctic research, must be no longer
than 30 pages including bibliography, and must be solely authored by the
contestant or be accompanied by a signed statement from the contestant's
advisor indicating that the contestant was a major contributor to the
research and primary author of the paper. Papers that emphasize
interdisciplinary research and that include indigenous peoples in the
conduct of the research are strongly encouraged.

Papers must be submitted to one of the ARCUS Member Institution
Representatives by December 2, 1996. The winners of the award will be
announced by February 15, 1997. A list of ARCUS Member Institution
Representatives is available on ARCUS' WWW site at
http://arcus.polarnet.com. If you cannot access the WWW, contact ARCUS and
we will email or fax the list to you.

Questions regarding this competition may be directed to any of the ARCUS
Member Institution Representatives or to the ARCUS office at 907/474-1600,
e-mail arcus [at] polarnet.com. For more information about ARCUS check out our
Web site at http://arcus.polarnet.com.

Sincerely,

Wendy K. Warnick
Executive Officer