John Baymore on sun 14 jul 02
John Sununu
1229 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D. C. 20515 2901
(603) 641-9536 NH Office (202) 225-5456 D.C. Office (202) 225-5822=
D.C. Fax
rep.sununu@mail.house.gov
--------------------------------------------
Charles Bass (R-NH-2) =
218 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D. C. 20515_2902
(603) 226-0249 NH Office (202) 225-5206 D.C. Office (202)
225-2946 D.C. Fax
cbass@hr.house.gov
cc: CLAYART Ceramic Arts Discussion List ; Tony + Shiela Clennell
(clennell@VAXXINE.com)
7/14/02
Dear Mr. Sununu and Mr. Bass,
As a professioanl ceramic artist, I recently became aware of an incident
that, to me, seems preposterous. One which is clearly giving the USA a
"black eye" in the online international ceramic arts community. I though=
t
you both should be made aware of it also.
An internationally known husband and wife team of Canadian ceramic artist=
s,
Tony and Shiela Clennell, were invited by the Tennesee Technological
University's Appalacian Center for the Crafts to do a week long teaching
workshop. It was supposed to happen shortly. As I understand it, the
University had the Clennells fill out many pieces of governmental
documentation and they complied with what they were asked to do. =
Apparently the paperwork was quite involved, and setting the workshop up
and getting the porper documentation consumed many hours of time, involve=
d
stacks of forms, and racked up a substantial phone bill. =
A couple of days ago Tony and Shiela proceeded to the US / Canadian borde=
r
to head to Tennesee to sightsee for a couple of days before the workshop
began. When they got to our border they demonstrated honesty and integri=
ty
by telling the truth about their reason for entry into our country. They=
were then completely denied access to the US, and it sounds like they wer=
e
involved in many hours of heated discussions, had their passports
confiscated until they reversed direction and left the area, and in gener=
al
had a pretty poor experience with the US Customs Department.
As a result, Tony and Shiela have been unable to share their great
expertise and talents with many of our United States citizens..... which=
is a "cultural exchange" loss for this country. Also, US participants in=
the workshop who have made things like flight and hotel reservations will=
likely lose some of their hard earned money, as well as experience the
aggravation of having their plans totally disrupted. The Appalacian Cent=
er
for the Crafts will likely lose not only workshop revenues but also will
have its reputation somewhat tarnished from the cancellation of this even=
t.
The US "loses" in many ways from this decision.
These are not "foreigners taking jobs away from Americans", they are
professional artists. As such, NO ONE else can do exactly what it is tha=
t
they do. Period. This situation should have been clear to the agents a=
t
the border..... except for the fact that education in the arts in the USA=
has been so severely cut back in recent years that the average American
does not really have a good grasp of what it is that artists actually do.=
=
Some on the net have suggested that there was one INS/customs document
which was filled out in error, and that this situation is actually the
fault of the University. But such a simple TECHNICAL paperwork clerical
error, if it actually existed, should have been easily addressed by the
local authorities on the spot. It sounds like it is possible that they
didn't want to be bothered with "thinking", they just wanted to "follow
orders". =
If we are to truly make our US borders secure, we need agents on the fron=
t
lines who have the abilty to THINK on the fly.
I fully understand the need for heightened security in the light of the
horrible events on 9-11. However, it sounds like this is a case of the
inability to see the "forrest for the trees" on the part of the local
border agents, and possibly a slavish, unthinking approch to the executio=
n
of their job. When known terrorists can (unfortunately) travel around ou=
r
country relatively openly, it is ABSURD that an artist willing to share h=
is
or her talents with others in an act of international understanding and
goodwill should be so barred. =
This situation is being very openly discussed on the internet's
internationally-read ceramic arts discussion list..... and the USA is
looking pretty bad. I think someone in a governmental position, such as
yourselves, should look into this matter and see if anything could still =
be
done to rectify it in some way........ since I believe there are a couple=
of days before the workshop was scheduled to start. =
At the least, something should be done to try to prevent similar incident=
s
from happening in the future. This might entail making the application
procedure for visiting international artists a more simple procedure,
educating our border agents about the need to "think" in such situations,=
or some combination of the two.
PLEASE see if anything can be done.
Sincerely,
John Baymore
PS: I am in no way affiliated with the Appalacian Center for the Crafts
nor was I registered to participate in this particular workshop. I am
simply an embarrased American ceramist. However, I AM about to head to
Japan to present at a workshop, and I sincerely hope that I will experien=
ce
better treatment there than Tony and Shiela recieved here.
John Baymore
River Bend Pottery
22 Riverbend Way
Wilton, NH 03086 USA
603-654-2752 (s)
800-900-1110 (s)
JohnBaymore.com
JBaymore@compuserve.com
"DATES CHANGED: Earth, Water, and Fire Noborigama Woodfiring Workshop =
=
August 23 - September 1, 2002"
Helen Bates on mon 15 jul 02
On Sun, 14 Jul 2002 16:41:15 -0400, John Baymore
wrote:
>John Sununu
>
>1229 Longworth House Office Building
>
>Washington, D. C. 20515 2901
>
>(603) 641-9536 NH Office (202) 225-5456 D.C. Office (202) 225-5822
>D.C. Fax
>
>rep.sununu@mail.house.gov
>
>--------------------------------------------
>
>Charles Bass (R-NH-2)
>
>218 Cannon House Office Building
>
>Washington, D. C. 20515_2902
>
>(603) 226-0249 NH Office (202) 225-5206 D.C. Office (202)
>225-2946 D.C. Fax
>
>cbass@hr.house.gov
>
> (Snip...)
>
>At the least, something should be done to try to prevent similar incidents
>from happening in the future. This might entail making the application
>procedure for visiting international artists a more simple procedure,
>educating our border agents about the need to "think" in such situations,
>or some combination of the two.
>
>PLEASE see if anything can be done.
>
>
>Sincerely,
>
>
>John Baymore
Dear John,
I just want to let you know that your letter to U.S. governmental
representatives is just the sort of communication that I was hoping people
concerned about the possibility of continuing to have valid social,
cultural, and artistic interchange between our two (and other) countries
would make.
Thank you very much, indeed.
Helen
--
============================================================================
=========
Helen Bates - mailto:nell@cogeco.ca, mailto:nelba@nycny.net,
nelbanell@yahoo.com
Web - http://www.geocities.com/nelbanell/ (includes links to my "surfing"
posts)
PMI Online - http://www.potterymaking.org/pmionline.html (New)
Clayarters' Urls - http://amsterlaw.com/clayart.html (Amsterlaw Site)
============================================================================
=========
Dale Cochoy on mon 15 jul 02
I admit I've not read every post on this subject, but after reading this
letter I decided to comment.
I left most of this letter un-snipped so people could re-read the entry
problems again.
I have ly over the last couple years while doing trade shows in Canada and
one in Korea that the ONLY hitch in traveling around is with US CUSTOM
PERSONNEL. I have found them ignorant ( meaning that when talking to 3-5
agents at the same desk that they all have a different idea of what to
do/how to handle a question), and they actually asked me what I wanted THEM
to do with my CUSTOMS REQUIRED paperwork!!! My traveling/business buddy and
I couldn't believe it!! and all were extremely RRRRUUUDDDEEEE.
After my last trip to Korea I tracked down our Local ( Akron, Ohio) customs
area Supervisor and posted a complaint about the two agents I dealt with
at the local airport while getting ready for a Korea sales trip. Again, two
sets of stories. This could be, but won't, be preluded by a LONG story) . I
also complained about the lack of knowledge/rudeness of US/Canada Niagara
crossing agents. I was told that Niagara area was a different area but
complaints would be passed on. I never heard back from ANYONE about any of
my complaints.
After dealing with customs agents in Japan and Japanese customs/agriculture
agents I truly believe that every US Agent should get a months training in
Japan!!!! They compairably fall all over themselves helping you and being
pleasant. I had 4 ( count 'em) agents helping me with a phyto-sanitary
inspection on 3 plants in Osaka airport. And THEY actually TYPED out the
form without a computer!! And we did this with a terrible language barrier
to boot!.
Then,
I dealt with US Customs agent when entering the US ( San Francisco) with
the plants which I had an import lic. for AND a sanitary insp. from Japan.
To shorten that story, ....they were rude, ignorant of the situation and
LLLAAAZZZYYYY.
Yes, we really need to improve the attitudes of ALL our governmnt employees
from customs to IRS to Auto License to unemployement, etc, etc, etc.
Or....fire them and replace them.
BTW, I'm not certain from the post concerning ceramics artist problems
where the situation actually went wrong, but, I do know from acquantances
who travel from Canada to US that you NEVER use the terms, "Workshop",
"Work", or the likes.
Regards,
Dale Cochoy, Wild Things Bonsai Studio, Hartville, Ohio
DaleCochoy@Prodigy.Net http://www.WildThingsBonsai.Com
Specializing in power wood carving tools.
Yakimono no Kokoro bonsai pottery of hand-built stoneware
7/14/02
Dear Mr. Sununu and Mr. Bass,
As a professioanl ceramic artist, I recently became aware of an incident
that, to me, seems preposterous. One which is clearly giving the USA a
"black eye" in the online international ceramic arts community. I thought
you both should be made aware of it also.
An internationally known husband and wife team of Canadian ceramic artists,
Tony and Shiela Clennell, were invited by the Tennesee Technological
University's Appalacian Center for the Crafts to do a week long teaching
workshop. It was supposed to happen shortly. As I understand it, the
University had the Clennells fill out many pieces of governmental
documentation and they complied with what they were asked to do.
Apparently the paperwork was quite involved, and setting the workshop up
and getting the porper documentation consumed many hours of time, involved
stacks of forms, and racked up a substantial phone bill.
A couple of days ago Tony and Shiela proceeded to the US / Canadian border
to head to Tennesee to sightsee for a couple of days before the workshop
began. When they got to our border they demonstrated honesty and integrity
by telling the truth about their reason for entry into our country. They
were then completely denied access to the US, and it sounds like they were
involved in many hours of heated discussions, had their passports
confiscated until they reversed direction and left the area, and in general
had a pretty poor experience with the US Customs Department.
As a result, Tony and Shiela have been unable to share their great
expertise and talents with many of our United States citizens..... which
is a "cultural exchange" loss for this country. Also, US participants in
the workshop who have made things like flight and hotel reservations will
likely lose some of their hard earned money, as well as experience the
aggravation of having their plans totally disrupted. The Appalacian Center
for the Crafts will likely lose not only workshop revenues but also will
have its reputation somewhat tarnished from the cancellation of this event.
The US "loses" in many ways from this decision.
These are not "foreigners taking jobs away from Americans", they are
professional artists. As such, NO ONE else can do exactly what it is that
they do. Period. This situation should have been clear to the agents at
the border..... except for the fact that education in the arts in the USA
has been so severely cut back in recent years that the average American
does not really have a good grasp of what it is that artists actually do.
Some on the net have suggested that there was one INS/customs document
which was filled out in error, and that this situation is actually the
fault of the University. But such a simple TECHNICAL paperwork clerical
error, if it actually existed, should have been easily addressed by the
local authorities on the spot. It sounds like it is possible that they
didn't want to be bothered with "thinking", they just wanted to "follow
orders".
Sincerely,
John Baymore
Avril Farley on mon 15 jul 02
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Baymore"
To:
Sent: Sunday, July 14, 2002 9:41 PM
Subject: Re: An embarrasing moment for the USA with Canada
Applause Applause - beautifully expressed letter.
Avril in the UK - not yet a visiting demonstration potter, but in future -
who knows.
Anita Rickenberg on mon 15 jul 02
In the mist of INS/government bureaucracy bashing, there are a couple =
things that seem to have been overlooked. Since Sept. 11, INS employees =
and airport screeners are two groups that have been evaluated, =
criticized, second-guessed, scrutinized, and overhauled. Being =
"flexible" and "thinking on their feet" is not something they are being =
encouraged to do. They have been mandated to do everything by the book: =
no deviations, no exceptions. They do not make the rules, they are =
enforcing the rules and laws that those we elect have written. It's a =
bit like being angry with the salesclerk because the store he/she works =
for has a lousy return policy.
I'm sure some individuals are rude--I know if no occupation that is =
devoid of rude individuals. My personal experience with INS has been =
benign. My impression was of people doing a job: nothing more or less.
We as a country must also remember that when we give government agencies =
the power to suspend or limit the rights of others in the name of =
preserving freedom it can just as easily be us, our friends, and our =
relatives. The thinking seems to be that it's OK as long as WE aren't =
inconvenienced. Sort of the personal version of NIMBY (not in my =
backyard). Unfortunately, the historical record would seem to indicate =
that power and authority without accountability takes on a life of its =
own.
Anita
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