Northampton Community College (NCC) announces that Hellertown resident and Saucon Valley High School graduate Russell J. Maura has won the College’s Martin Luther King, Jr. poster contest for 2008.

Maura’s design, “Vote the Dream,” selected out of 32 entries, includes a photograph of Martin Luther King, Jr. casting a ballot against the backdrop of a map of the United States. A blue field with three stars dominates the poster’s left and two red stripes stand at the poster’s right.

Maura, a communications design major at NCC, chose to connect the civil rights leader to the equal voting rights he fought for as a way to illustrate the theme of this year’s Martin Luther King, Jr. commemoration, “Vote the Dream.” Maura also strove to emphasize the important of voting, particularly in the coming elections.

“There are a lot of important issues in the political and social worlds,” Maura says, “and voting can make an impact if voters are well educated about the candidates. The changes that Martin Luther King stood for can be attained by voting.”

“Russell Maura’s graphic selections and overall composition speaks of the ‘Vote the Dream’ most successfully,” says NCC instructor Traci Anfuso-Young,

The poster will provide the graphic representation for the College’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration on January 26 at Lipkin Theatre, NCC, 3835 Green Pond Road, Bethlehem. It will be on display with other posters entered into the contest.

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