Facts: Scott Hefner, a junior in environmental in architecture, won second place for the proposed the idea of a garden in the “Think Outside the Brick” competition last fall. “Think Outside the Brick” is a competition held by Student Government and Office of Sustainability to promote sustainability awareness amongst students.   Our Opinion: Many projects, including the SOUL Garden and the garden that Hefner proposed have faced problems in implementation stages. Student Government should rethink hosting this competition because the commitments toward the winners of this competition are not honored appropriately.   “Think Outside the Brick” competition is hosted by the Office of Sustainability to encourage students to think about different ways to make campus sustainable and environmentally friendly. This competition is hosted every year and the winning proposal is promised implementation with an initial funding of $1,000.   Over the past 2 years, winning proposals have faced severe implementation issues. The Office of Sustainability honored their commitment to the SOUL Garden after a significant amount of time had passed, and at a location not at the center of campus. The project doesn’t have the desired impact, since it is never seen because it’s not on Main Campus. The SOUL Garden was completed having survived the initial road blocks; however, the garden Scott Hefner proposed has been waiting to get approval.   Student Government and the Office of Sustainability host this competition every year and evaluate proposals based on feasibility, scalability and campus impact. If all the criteria necessary for an effective implementation are considered during the evaluation process, there should be no reason to delay the projects.   Students participating in these competitions nurture the development of their ideas with hard work. They win and deserve to be rewarded, and the best reward for them would be to see their dreams and ideas turn into reality. However, when Student Government promises the winners implementation of their design and then doesn’t honor this commitment, it is not only inappropriate but a waste of participants’ resources.   Student Government promises to implement winning proposals with an initial funding of $1,000. David Dean, sustainability outreach co-coordinator, has other views on the subject. According to Dean, winning proposals for the “Think Outside the Brick” competition are not automatically implemented after being accepted.   Student Government and Office of Sustainability should seriously rethink the existence and future of this competition. The implementation of the winning project is the most important part of this competition and if student government is unable to do it, the existence of the competition is unnecessary. While it is a great program encouraging students to think about sustainability initiatives and their impact on campus, if the winning projects are not implemented the purpose of holding this competition is defeated.