FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 12, 1997

SYRACUSE, N.Y.

Peggy Peattie has been named the first recipient of the Alexia Professional Grant. Peattie will receive a $15,000 grant from the Alexia Foundation to continue her work documenting the increased racial tensions sparked by the flying of the Confederate flag over the South Carolina State House. Peattie, a newspaper photographer since 1983, began photographing her project during her three years as a staff photographer at The State newspaper in Columbia, SC. Previously Peattie had worked for The Daily Breeze in Torrance, CA and other newspapers on the West coast. She has been a finalist for the NPPA/Nikon Sabbatical and has been honored several times in the annual University of Missouri/NPPA Picture of the Year Competition. Peattie is currently a candidate for a master's degree in visual communications and a Knight Fellow at Ohio University."I hope my essay will document the diverse points of view surrounding this issue," said Peattie of the project she began as a staff photographer for The State newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina. "I want to help neighbor to understand neighbor and to keep them from burning churches or teaching their children to shun one another," she added. "This essay will pursue a sincere understanding of what is meant by "heritage" to all South Carolinians" wrote Peattie in her proposal. "Peattie's compelling images shed light on one of the most serious issues facing the United States today," said competition judge Jodi Cobb, staff photographer for National Geographic.

Three other photographers were named finalists in the inaugural Alexia Grant Competition: Heidi Bradner, a freelance photographer based in Moscow, Colin Finlay, a freelancer affiliated with SABA Pictures in Santa Barbara, California, and Janet Jensen, a masters student of photojournalism at the University of Missouri at Columbia interning at the Tacoma News-Tribune.Sixty-one entries from eight countries were considered by judges Jodi Cobb, Robert Gilka, Director of Photography Emeritus at National Geographic; Bob Lynn, Assistant Managing Editor for Graphics at the Virginian-Pilot; and freelance photographer David Wells during the February 15th judging at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

Entries were judged by the quality of work, but more importantly by the quality and potential of the photo essay proposals to promote world peace through the cultural and human understanding through the images they would produce. The work of the judges was only partially complete in naming Peattie the Alexia Grant winner.

The Alexia Scholarship Competition, established in 1991, awards five scholarships and grants totaling more than $20,000 for study abroad in the Syracuse University photojournalism program in London and for completion of documentary photography projects.

Rami Maalouf of Western Kentucky University. Maalouf, a dual citizen of Israel and the US who interned at the Associated Press in Jerusalem, will complete a photo essay exploring the conflicts created by the settlement and land policies in Israel."The settlement policies of the Israeli government have come under close scrutiny in recent years," said Maalouf. "I intend to document how the lives of Arab families are affected by the seizure of their homes as a result of these policies," he added. "Maalouf's story proposal directly relates to the ideas promoted by the Alexia Foundation," said David Wells, a freelance photographer who has worked extensively in Israel. "The continual pursuit for peace and attempts to increase understanding between clashing cultures will ideally improve life in the Middle East," Wells said.

Maalouf will receive an $8,000 scholarship towards his semester in London, where he will receive instruction and guidance in completing his project from Wells, the visiting professor in photojournalism at the SU London Program.

The photojournalism program at Western Kentucky University will receive a $500 contribution from The Alexia Foundation for sponsoring the top student entry.

Chris Stanford, also of Western Kentucky University, placed second in the student competition. A second place winner in the 1996 College Photographer of the Year Competition, Stanford intends to explore the developing tensions in Jamaican society caused by tourism. Stanford will receive a $6,000 scholarship and a $500 grant.

Additionally, the Alexia Foundation designated three students with Awards of Excellence which include a $1,500 scholarship to the London Program and a $500 grant toward the completion of their project. With his grant, Ryan Anson, a first year student at Syracuse University, plans to study the impact of modernization on the Masai tribe in Kenya where he has lived for the past two years. Western Kentucky University senior Barry Gutierrez will document the communities of black churches in the South, and Susanna Frohman, a masterscandidate at Ohio University, will illuminate the lives of a second generation raised on a hippie commune.

"This years winners posses the eye to identify artistic and journalistic value, the brain to apply technical skills and most importantly heart that is visible in their work," said Executive Director Aphrodite Tsairis. "They are willing to take risks and The Foundation exists to support them while they make statements through photography."

"Although the Alexia Competition had been exclusively devoted to students, The Foundation decided to create a professional award this year to provide students with a role model to show them what we hope they will become," said Aphrodite Tsairis, executive director of the Alexia Foundation. "However, the keystone of our efforts will remain the students."

The Alexia Foundation for World Peace was established by Dr. Peter Tsairisand Aphrodite Thevos Tsairis in honor of their daughter Alexia Tsairis. Alexia, a photojournalism major at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, was a victim of the terrorist bombingof Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland while returning home after a semester abroad in London. She believed in the individuals ability to advance peace and the Alexia Foundation remains dedicated to providing scholarships for those who also function within the same beliefs.

"The foundation has become our life's work," said Peter Tsairis. "We live what would have been Alexia's life."