Roanoke College has named Laura Hamilton of Jamestown a winner of the 2008 Henry H. Fowler Student Public Policy Paper Competition. Awards are presented for outstanding papers addressing any local, state, national or international public policy issue of significant public interest.

Hamilton's comparative study of the American and Danish welfare states earned the top honor of "excellent," a distinction that carries a cash award of $2,000 or a graduate scholarship of $4,000.