http://winnipeg.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=mb_postercontest20030203
Make sure to read this:
http://winnipeg.cbc.ca/quickstats/20030203posters.html
http://www.ngcrc.com/index.html
Web Posted | Feb 3 2003 08:50 AM MST
American group rejects students, blames politics
WINNIPEG – An American anti-gang organization is is refusing entries from Canada to an international poster contest because of statements by Canadian politicians that are against American interests.
Winnipeg artist Jeanette Jerome, who teaches after-school art programs to students at two Winnipeg middle schools, was looking for poster contests her students could enter.
When she found the National Gang Crime Research Centre in Chicago’s poster contest online, she was delighted. The contest, for North American children in kindergarten through Grade 12, was designed to “encourage youths in the United States and Canada, through creative and artistic expression, to have a voice in shaping social policy about gang prevention.” First prize was $500.
However, after writing to the organization for more details, Jerome received a response saying that because of “recent national political statements from leaders in your country . non-supportive of American interests” the group was no longer accepting Canadian entries.
* QUICK STATS: Read the NGCRC’s response to Jerome’s query
Jerome plans to show her students the e-mail from the organization on Monday. “I’ll say, ‘you know, this fellow is using all of us for his political issues, and we have nothing do to with it,'” she says.
“I’m also going to say, ‘now, do not be angry at Americans. Be angry at this man, and then it’s over.’ I’m going to make sure that they are told, because it might be a little lesson down the road.”
Jerome says it’s very important this one man’s actions do not lead to anti-American sentiment.
The National Gang Crime Research Centre could not be reached for comment. According to the centre’s Web site, the group is a non-profit, independent agency that conducts research on gangs and provides training and consulting services.