I used her project to answer a question asked by someone else on here. dlphnlvr recognized it as one she heard before, presumably during an info session either on campus or one of the remote ones. Someone must have asked about the DHS projects and apparently they talked about the one with the periodic table and the element Tulanium.
It was at an info session we attended at Tulane the summer before my sons senior year. There was a discussion about the DHS and I think it was Andrew that used that one as an example along with his own submission (which won him the DHS as well) and the well referenced one about the student who cut the square out and held it for ransom.
I remember the ransom story! And I recall our chatting about the projects here too. Seems now so long ago… 
Yeah, I love the ransom one. I am not familiar with Andrew’s (wish he was still at Tulane). Do you recall what his was about, @dolphnlvr6?
Who is Andrew?
Yes, it was based on how NOT to do your DHS. He related that he had waited until the night before it was due because he was very busy with research he was doing- something with creating new languages, (he was very interested in primitive languages and alphabets and such) so it was something like he wrote in the box that he was too busy to do this project because he was busy creating a new language and wrote something in that language. I’m not doing it justice, I can’t remember all the details and the way Andrew told the story of course made it much more interesting and effective. Andrew was one of a kind, very smart and so engaging. Such a loss to Tulane for him to leave.
?? Did he graduate ??
@fallenchemist I have another question for you… Do the people who win Stamps win the Dean’s first? And then they pick the top 5 Dean winners? Or do 5 people who don’t win the Deans get Stamps? Thanks again for all of your help!
Andrew Farrier (I think I got his name correct) was in charge of the admissions area for majors that involved artistic merit, such as architecture and art portfolios. Basically a coordinator between those departments and admissions. I am sure he had other duties, but those are the ones with which I was familiar. He is still in NOLA, I believe, and I think he is a “permanent” actor with the Southern Rep, possibly the most highly acclaimed of the regional theater companies.
He also gives tours with the Strange True Tour company and his bio on that page alludes to his DHS!
@Gummybearz
Well, until a couple of days ago I was quite positive that the 5 Stamps winners were taken from the pool of 75 DHS winners, and so were the 2 Hainkel winners (let’s assume it is two, although it might only be one). So in the end I figured there were 68 DHS winners, 5 Stamps and 2 Hainkels. But it could be that the 5 Stamps winners are separate from the pool of DHS winners, which could still number 75. If I find out what the real story is, I’ll let you know. I guess in the end it doesn’t make that much difference in the overall scheme of things, but it obviously makes a difference to those 5 people that do or don’t get those additional awards!
But let’s hypothesize. Say there are 10 Stamps finalists, which I do think is the number. 5 of those will win, 5 won’t. Those that don’t are obviously (or at least I think obviously) going to still get the full tuition awards. Now those could be DHS, or I suppose if they also applied for the PTA it could be that, although it is the DHS application that is required for the Stamps. But also remember there is nothing magic about 75 per se. Admissions can do what they want, within budget guidelines of course. What I mean is that until 7 years ago, there were 100 DHS awards. Then the financial crash of 2008 hit and it got reduced to 75. Because these awards are based off an endowment that earns interest and investment returns. That core endowment has to stay intact. Lower investment returns means less money for scholarships. In fact, also remember that the 75 number assumes that in reality probably 30-40 will actually attend Tulane. That is what is budgeted.
So Tulane may in good faith put the 75 number out there, but there would be nothing wrong or even really misleading about awarding 75 now, going through the Stamps process, and giving 5 more to those that do not get the Stamps. Or they could give 3 DHS and 2 PTA. It would be the same for the students, since the value of the two awards is identical. It would just be bookkeeping at that point to stay within budget for each award. If, suddenly, 60 winners enrolled at Tulane one year Tulane would obviously cover it, but I bet it sure would screw up the budget! But it has been reasonably consistent from year to year as far as I can tell.
Which is a long way of saying I don’t know exactly how Tulane does it, and it might not even be the same year-to-year depending on the returns from the endowment. But thanks for making me think about this a little more. These possibilities actually make more sense to me than what I used to think was likely the case.
@dolphnlvr6
Yes, although it looks like the bio needs a little updating since it still has him at Tulane. He is listed as an actor in most of the Southern Rep’s recent productions, so it looks like he swapped Tulane for Southern Rep and kept his job at the tour company as well.
@fallenchemist Thank you for all of your help!
Thanks for the clarification on “Andrew”
My daughter was nominated for and interviewed for the Stamps Award. We were just notified that she did not get a Dean’s or Paul Tulane award. We’re a little shocked. How can that be?
@momofc
Because if one report is true, at least 200 people were initially interviewed for the Stamps (out of well over 1,000 applicants), while there are only 125 total DHS and PTA. So there would have to be some students that did not win either.
I was always under the impression that the Stamps candidates were chosen from the DHS winner pool? Guess that’s not true.
It still might be true. We need to be clear when we are talking about initial interviews and Stamps finalists. There are only 10 finalists. Those interviews take place via Skype over the next couple of weeks.
Just called Tulane. It is true that Stamps are chosen from the winners. Tulane just went way, way down in our opinion.
Wait. So if we have received the DHS then there is a chance we will be a finalist for the Stamps?