So often, radio station contests award cash, vacations, or concert tickets to the listener who calls in first, fifth, or tenth or calls in with the correct answer to a trivia question. It was refreshing, in the mid '80s, to hear WLS in Chicago award something different--a college education. "Think about what you could do, what you could be," the announcer said in a promo. Entrants were required to write an essay about why they wanted to attend Roosevelt University.
I hope the winner of that contest made good use of his or her college education and that it was a springboard to a fulfilling career. It's impressive to hear a radio station offer a prize that goes beyond instant gratification and, if used wisely, provides dividends for a listener's future.
