contest

New and Unique Nonsmokers' Rights
Legal Research and Writing Competition and
Fifth World Conference on Nonsmokers' Rights

Sponsored by the
National Center for Nonsmokers' Rights and Law Professor John Banzhaf
of the George Washington University Law School
and Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) in Washington DC

$1000 TRAVEL GRANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

The World Conference on Nonsmokers’ Rights provides a limited number of $1000 travel grants to encourage and permit participants to attend. The following policies and procedures will apply, and exceptions cannot be made:

1. All grant recipients – even participants from the DC area – will be entitled to an automatic grant of one hundred dollars [$100.00] for miscellaneous expenses without the need to present any receipts. This payment is to cover dinner eaten out on Saturday night and other incidentals, including local transportation by car, Metro, etc. No receipts are need be presented to receive this basic $100 grant, but applicants must attend and participate in the Conference.

2. Participants who live, go to law school, or have a place of employment within 20 miles of downtown Washington DC will not be eligible for the additional reimbursement discussed below.

3. The grants are primarily designed to reimburse participants for their actual out-of-pocket expenses for traveling to and staying in Washington, DC. These expenses ordinarily include travel costs and the cost of lodging for Friday and Saturday nights, since most meals will be provided at the Conference. The meal on Saturday evening will be covered by the no-receipt-needed one hundred dollar grant set forth in 1. above.

4. The grants are NOT designed to cover incidental expenses such as the purchase and/or cleaning of clothing, entertainment and snacks, souvenirs, etc. for which no reimbursement will be provided.

5. Participants will be reimbursed only if their expenses are necessary and reasonable under the circumstances, and only up to a total of $1000. Payments will be made only to those persons who attend and participate in the Conference, and who submit a reimbursement form supported by actual receipts [except for the $100 automatic grant which does not require any receipts] as described below.

6. Participants who must travel to the Conference by air should try to book the lowest generally available and convenient fare, and give special consideration to using discount air carriers where possible. Grant recipients will be advised of the lowest generally available and convenient air fare available at the time, and will be expected to spend no more than the amount indicated without written permission obtained in advance from the Conference organizers. PLEASE DO NOT BOOK FLIGHTS UNTIL YOU RECEIVE THIS ESTIMATE.

7. Grant recipients will be advised of the costs of staying at hotels in the immediate area of the Conference site. Reimbursement for lodging will be limited to the rates charged by these hotels. In other words, any participants who choose to stay at substantially more expensive hotels will be reimbursed only for the lower rate they could have paid at the less expensive hotel.

8. Reimbursement for travel by car will be provided on the basis of thirty cents ($00.50) per mile from the residence to the Conference location as determined by MapQuest.com, plus any tolls for which receipts are tendered. In other words, the reimbursement for automobile travel will not depend on other factors.

9. All participants must completely fill out an IRS W-9 form provided by the Internal Revenue Service to receive any reimbursement and/or award. A copy of the form will be provided at the end of the first day of the Conference on Saturday, AND ONLY AT THAT TIME. For administrative convenience (e.g. avoiding confusion and possible loss) and other reasons, all completed forms IRS W-9 must be submitted in person only at the close of the Conference on Sunday, and cannot be submitted by mail or otherwise thereafter.

10. After the Conference is over, all participants should submit within 10 days via ordinary mail a signed copy of their reimbursement form with copies of all receipts, and a stamped self-addressed envelope for the reimbursement and/or CONTEST award check to be mailed. Reimbursement checks will be mailed in these envelopes as soon as possible following receipt of these materials. Please note that the reimbursement form and the IRS W-9 are two different documents -- the first [IRS W-9] MUST be turned in at the close of the Conference on Sunday, and the second [reimbursement form with receipts] MUST be returned by mail within 10 days of the Conference.