3/29/07, 1:51 pm EST

The Final Judgement: Dan Macsai and Andrew Halberstadt Are Our Last Winners!

Shed a tear: The weekly writing competition is officially over and we have not one, but TWO winners this week. (You’ll remember that the final assignment involved crafting an investigative report on a local business that has been making efforts to go green.) Since we’re naming two winners this week, two editors made the picks:

National Affairs editor Eric Bates picked Dan Macsai, who wrote about Saint Xavier University. Says Eric: “Well written, and it covers all the bases: It has reporting from all the right people, and details about what’s actually been done.”

Executive editor Joe Levy selected Andrew Halberstatdt, who wrote about Flying F Biofuels. Says Joe: “Probably the best written of the whole batch. Solid reporting, a sense of place, and interesting details — having read about bio-diesel several times in the past, I’d never heard that the inventor of the diesel engine wanted to go bio-diesel back in 1892.”

Congratulations boys, you each win a brand new First Act guitar, a Rhapsody Sansa and a spot in our winner’s circle. Stay tuned, because we’ll be selecting a grand prize champion from amongst our weekly winners for a gig writing at RS.com. Isn’t the suspense killing you??

3/22/07, 5:16 pm EST

Goodbye, “I’m From Rolling Stone”…Hello, Krish!

The suspense is over! Krishtine de Leon — she of girlie-grillz and Hyphy and trash-talkin’ — beat out the other five MTV reality-show folks to win a spot as a Rolling Stone contributing editor.

Alas, this also means that the first season of I’m From Rolling Stone is over. Ah, the memories! Over the course of ten episodes, we watched as Pete got drunk, Russell got crazy, Colin went to Alaska, Tika choked on the red carpet and Krystal got to meet Paris Hilton! What were your favorite moments from the show? And what do you want to see next time around? Inquiring minds want to know. (more…)

3/19/07, 12:00 pm EST

The Final “I’m From Rolling Stone” Writing Contest: National Affairs

The kids’ very last assignment was for the National Affairs section of the magazine: they were asked to investigate one of six U.S. corporations with the worst pollution track record in the nation and write an expose of the company, citing the negative impact that the businesses have on the environment and the communities in which they operate.

Your assignment: Research the steps a local business has taken to go green. It is advisable that you conduct an interview with one of the business’s managerial employees, as well as a member of the community who may have been positively affected by the shift. Write a 300-word investigative item using your reporting. Submit your entry here.

You’ve got until Friday at noon EST! This is your last chance to make your parents/children/lovers/dog proud and be eligible to win a First Act guitar and a Rhapsody Sansa MP3 player. TWO winners will be chosen this week.

Need inspiration? See how the MTV kids did with their own reports:

• The Dark Side of Kentucky: Krishtine de Leon Reports From the Tyson Chicken Fields
• The Dark Side of the Rio Grande: Tika Milan Reports on Asarco’s Texas Refinery
• The Dark Side of Alaska: Colin Stutz Reports From the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
• The Dark Side of Texas: Pete Maiden Reports on Corpus Christi’s Koch Industries

3/14/07, 5:02 pm EST

Trendspotter Extraordinaire Chris Senn Wins Assignment Number Eight

You guys are such arbiters of cool! That’s why when it came time to pick a winner for last week’s “I’m From Rolling Stone” writing contest — in which we asked you to write up 300 words on a pop culture trend — we were hard pressed to choose a Numero Uno from our ten finalists. Hence the multiple runners-up, per executive editor Joe Levy:

Winner:

Chris Senn on Childhood Cartoons-Turned Movies

Classic trend pitch: Take a current pop event (new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie opening next week), combine it with something upcoming (big-screen Smurfs in production, live-action G.I. Joe in talks), add cultural analysis (twentysomethings nostalgic for their youth), shake, and . . . instant trend. But what the hell – anybody this obsessed with ’80s cartoons deserves a prize.

Runners Up:

Kimberly Egolf on Dubstep Music
British music trends are like weeds. Kill one and another will sprout in its place next week. I’ve seen dubstep written about in a few places, but this pitch was expertly written. Nice job.

Emily McIntosh on Machinima
We actually ran something small on the Halo movies a while back in Rolling Stone, but this pitch sent me to Machinima.com, and the Halo300 clip was pretty hilarious.

Alex Frydman on “Buzzed” Goods
Caffeine-laced donuts and bagels? Someone’s getting their business ideas from Simpsons episodes.

Mr. Senn will win a First Act guitar and a Rhapsody Sansa. Hells to the yeah! As you might’ve noticed, there was no “I’m From Rolling Stone” this past Sunday. But fear not! You’ll be amply compensated with two back-to-back new episodes this coming Sunday. An accompanying writing contest will follow. Stay tuned! And since you got a week off, take our advice and bone up on your IFRS knowledge with the help of our handy-dandy episode guide.

3/12/07, 11:03 am EST

In Honor of the Season Finale, Our Biggest Contest Ever

It’s Monday, and if that pill wasn’t bitter enough, we have more news: This week, there’ll be no I’m From Rolling Stone writing contest. But don’t shave your head and go rehab-hopping just yet. Next week, we’ll be back with our final writing contest…and to honor the event, we’ll be picking two winners. And that means it’ll be two people who win impeccably-tuned First Act guitars and Rhapsody Sansa MP3 players. (Maybe you two hot-shots can form a band?)

And we know our MTV reality show wasn’t on the air last night. Don’t despair, the show will air next Sunday at 11 P.M. EST, as an hour-long, season-ending finale. Which one of our newbies will join the RS roster? Will it be Pete? Colin? Tika? Find out next Sunday, and tour our episode guides to get caught up before it all ends.