COUNTYWIDE : Snappy Art Wins AIDS Poster Contest

Cypress College art student Lisa Sims came up with a snappy slogan and poster to make people think twice about AIDS.

Sims’ self-portrait wearing a pair of jeans with the pants unsnapped and the slogan “AIDS Can Happen in a Snap” won the grand prize in the American Red Cross Orange County chapter’s fifth annual AIDS awareness poster contest.

“I just hope that people will understand how fast AIDS can happen--unsnapping your pants could be the biggest mistake of your life,” said Sims, 21, of Whittier. “Everyone’s just got to have safe sex.”

Poster winners were recognized in a ceremony last week at UC Irvine, part of Wednesday’s program for World AIDS Day.

The poster contest drew 289 entries from 26 schools across Orange County, said Susan Sullivan, Red Cross senior public health nurse and AIDS coordinator.

The contest offered a way to raise awareness and allow people to express themselves about AIDS, Sullivan said.

Sullivan said Sims’ poster will be reproduced by the Red Cross and distributed next year throughout Orange County at places such as schools and colleges.

“It’s an image that is appropriate for high school and college settings,” she said. “The message is that this is a sexually transmitted disease--and that you have to be aware and knowledgeable.”

Sims, who is also studying graphics, created the poster using computers and photography as a class project.

“It was a neat thing that I entered one contest and something positive came out of it,” said Sims, who won two round-trip airline travel vouchers.

Her poster, along with other award-winning works, will be on display through the month at the Irvine Marketplace, 4255 Campus Drive.

First-place winners included:

* Lizet Alvarado, second grade, Franklin Elementary School, Santa Ana.

* Aldrin Gotianun, fifth grade, Turtle Rock Elementary School, Irvine.

* Davey Moeller, eighth grade, Samuel E. Talbert Middle School, Huntington Beach.

* Juan Xoy, a junior, Saddleback High School, Santa Ana.

* Joaquin Granado and Marcos Gonzales, community category, Santa Ana.

* Dean Del Sesto and Michael O. Smith, professional category, Innovari Advertising/Design, Santa Ana.