Click here to view the Grand Prize Winning video (requires iTunes) produced by Florida college student Donald Strubler in a national video contest conducted by the Freedom Center in cooperation with Apple.

The contest, “What Freedom Means to Me,” was open to college students nationally and completed in July. The videos had to be less than three minutes in length, and had to include the phrase “freedom is . . .” Strubler’s entry depicts a young child coloring shapes and forms that evoke freedom.

His video will also be showcased on Apple’s Student Gallery, the Apple Learning Interchange, and other related Apple and Freedom Center websites.

Tonight’s (July 8th, 2008) broadcast of Nightline (ABC, 11:35 EST, check your local listings) will focus on a reporter’s trip to Haiti and his attempt to purchase a child slave.

That’s when the man with whom I’ve arranged a meeting shows up.

He says he’s a former member of parliament and that he has connections. In broad daylight, with hotel waiters walking by, he doesn’t even flinch when I make a horrific request.

“If I would like to get a child to live with me and take care of me,” I ask. “Could you do that?”

“Yes,” he says. “I can.”

Read the rest of the article and watch a video clip

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights defines the foundation of freedom as being “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family.”

Freedom has many manifestations: Freedom of speech…freedom from fear…freedom of movement and residence…freedom of thought, conscience, and religion…freedom of opinion and expression…freedom for peaceful assembly and association…freedoms to which everyone is entitled, without distinction of any kind.”

Yet around the globe, many people are denied essential freedoms and basic human rights. To raise awareness of the importance of freedom, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, in cooperation with Apple Inc., is asking college students across the United States to participate in a national video essay competition on the subject of “Freedom Is . . .”

Here’s how the contest works:

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Paul Hemmer recently shared his vision of planting 4 millions trees commemorating the lives of those who struggled for freedom with Fifth Third Business Beat host, Brian Patrick.

Watch Fifth Third Business Beat, Cincinnati’s weekly on-line and on-demand business program.