Campus briefs

History majors place in regional competition

Two history majors took home the top awards in an annual writing contest that included about 50 competitors at the Northern California Regional Phi Alpha Theta Conference.

Eleven Santa Clara history majors entered their thesis papers or best history essays in the competition, which was hosted by Chico State University on April 11-12.

Senior Jon McDonald, who is also the design editor for The Santa Clara, placed first for his essay, "Limits to Empire: Alexander the Great at the Hyphasis." Though he worked on his paper all winter quarter, McDonald said his win came as a surprise. However, the judges commended McDonald for the breadth of his research.

"They said that there was another essay in the endnotes, so I think I won because I did so much research and made sure to take notes accounting every opinion and every source," McDonald said.

Senior Ruth Caswell won second place for her essay, "Rationing Femininity: Gendered Undergarments in the Second World War."

Arizona governor hosts ethics lecture on immigration

Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, '79, will speak about immigration in a Markkula Ethics Center lecture tonight at 7 p.m. in the Recital Hall.

Napolitano, who has served as governor of Arizona since 2002, has been chosen by Time Magazine as one of America's top five governors, and the White House Project named Napolitano as one of the "8 in '08," a group of eight women politicians who could have possibly run in the 2008 election. She also served as Arizona's first female Attorney General.She has been hailed as a national leader in addressing immigration issues.

From staff reports. E-mail news@thesantaclara.com.