[wordup] Nobel Peace Prize: You Got A Shot?

[Adam Shand]

George Bush, Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac ... <sigh> ...

Adam.

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/09/world/main577325.shtml

Nobel Peace Prize: You Got A Shot?
OSLO, Norway, Oct. 9, 2003

It's that time of year again — time to cross your fingers, rub your 
rabbit's foot and hope that the secretive, five-member committee that 
awards the Nobel Peace Prize decides it's your turn. Finally.

Sure, Pope John Paul II, with his 25 years of advocating for peace, is 
considered a top contender for the prize, to be awarded Friday. And 
yeah, former Czech president Vaclav Havel, who led his country out of 
communism, is a leading candidate.

You've still got a shot, right?

Well, perhaps you should hold off on deciding how to spend your 10 
million Swedish kronor (that's $1.3 million). For those whose previous 
achievements are more along the lines of "World's Greatest Grandpa" or 
"Employee of the Month," there are a lot of misconceptions about the 
world's most famous award.

Geir Lundestad, secretary of the secretive committee that awards the 
prize, on Monday addressed some of the most common misunderstandings for 
The Associated Press:

Myth 1: The awards committee announces a shortlist of possible winners.

Wrong. The committee, with a strong tradition of not leaking, does not 
release the names of any candidates and keeps records sealed for 50 
years. Any "Nobel shortlist" most likely stems from names being guessed 
as possible contenders by the news media or others.
Nobel Peace Prize: You Got A Shot?
OSLO, Norway, Oct. 9, 2003


It's that time of year again — time to cross your fingers, rub your 
rabbit's foot and hope that the secretive, five-member committee that 
awards the Nobel Peace Prize decides it's your turn. Finally.

Sure, Pope John Paul II, with his 25 years of advocating for peace, is 
considered a top contender for the prize, to be awarded Friday. And 
yeah, former Czech president Vaclav Havel, who led his country out of 
communism, is a leading candidate.

You've still got a shot, right?

Well, perhaps you should hold off on deciding how to spend your 10 
million Swedish kronor (that's $1.3 million). For those whose previous 
achievements are more along the lines of "World's Greatest Grandpa" or 
"Employee of the Month," there are a lot of misconceptions about the 
world's most famous award.

Geir Lundestad, secretary of the secretive committee that awards the 
prize, on Monday addressed some of the most common misunderstandings for 
The Associated Press:

Myth 1: The awards committee announces a shortlist of possible winners.

Wrong. The committee, with a strong tradition of not leaking, does not 
release the names of any candidates and keeps records sealed for 50 
years. Any "Nobel shortlist" most likely stems from names being guessed 
as possible contenders by the news media or others.

Most Nobel watchers put Havel at the top of their list in a last minute 
shift against guessing the pope. But Web-based betting site Centrebet 
gave John Paul 2-1 odds of winning the prize, ahead of Havel (8-1), who 
received this year's Gandhi Peace Prize.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was given 14-1 odds, while 
Afghan leader Hamid Karzai had 25-1 odds.

Also on the "guess list": the Russian anti-war group Mothers in Black; 
jailed Iranian dissident Hashem Aghajari; Russian human rights activist 
Sergei Kovalyev; the Italian charity The Community of Sant' Egidio; the 
Salvation Army and American politicians Sam Nunn and Richard Lugar for 
their Cooperative Threat Reduction Program.

Other nominees include U2 singer and social activist Bono, pop singer 
Michael Jackson, former Illinois Governor George Ryan for commuting 167 
death sentences, President Bush, Prime Minister Tony Blair, French 
President Jacques Chirac, jailed Israeli nuclear technician Mordechai 
Vanunu, Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng, Women in Black for promoting 
Israeli-Palestinian ties, and Cuban human rights activist Oswaldo Paya 
Sardinas.

Experts agree there is no clear favorite. And it can be hard to guess. 
Last year, former President Carter wasn't seen as a strong candidate, 
but he received the prize.

Myth 2: A massive campaign for a particular candidate can sway the 
awards committee.

Wrong. It could have the opposite effect on the fiercely independent 
committee, since it fears its decision could appear to have been 
influenced by public pressure.

Myth 3: Candidates can be nominated until the last minute.

Wrong. The strictly enforced deadline for nominations being postmarked 
is Feb. 1.

Myth 4: Anyone can nominate a person or group for the Peace Prize.

Wrong. Nobel statutes clearly state who may make nominations: former 
laureates; current and former members of the committee and their staff; 
members of national governments and legislatures; university professors 
of law, theology, social sciences, history and philosophy; leaders of 
peace research and foreign affairs institutes; and members of 
international courts of law.

Myth 5: The prize can be revoked if a laureate does not live up to the 
standards of the peace prize.

Wrong. There are no provisions in the Nobel statutes for revoking the prize.

Myth 6: The prize can be awarded posthumously.

Wrong. The prize was awarded posthumously only once in 1961 to former 
U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammerskjold after he was killed in a plane 
crash in Africa. The rules were amended in 1974 to prohibit it.

Myth 7: The prize is awarded to recognize efforts for peace, human 
rights, and democracy only after they have proven successful.

More often, the prize is awarded to encourage those who receive it to 
see the effort through, sometimes at critical moments in a process 
despite the risk of failure.

Myth 8: The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by the Norwegian government.
Members of the Norwegian government and parliament are barred from the 
committee. Under the terms of the 1895 will of the prize's creator, 
Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, the five members of the Peace Prize 
committee are appointed by the parliament but are independent and do not 
answer to lawmakers.

Myth 9: The Nobel peace prize is awarded in Stockholm, Sweden.

It is awarded in the Norwegian capital of Oslo as stipulated in Nobel's 
will. The other five Nobel prizes are awarded in Stockholm.

Myth 10: A prize is awarded every year, and someone famous always gets it.

Wrong. The committee can award no prize, or give it to some little-known 
individual or group.

Maybe that's where you come in.
Most Nobel watchers put Havel at the top of their list in a last minute 
shift against guessing the pope. But Web-based betting site Centrebet 
gave John Paul 2-1 odds of winning the prize, ahead of Havel (8-1), who 
received this year's Gandhi Peace Prize.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was given 14-1 odds, while 
Afghan leader Hamid Karzai had 25-1 odds.

Also on the "guess list": the Russian anti-war group Mothers in Black; 
jailed Iranian dissident Hashem Aghajari; Russian human rights activist 
Sergei Kovalyev; the Italian charity The Community of Sant' Egidio; the 
Salvation Army and American politicians Sam Nunn and Richard Lugar for 
their Cooperative Threat Reduction Program.

Other nominees include U2 singer and social activist Bono, pop singer 
Michael Jackson, former Illinois Governor George Ryan for commuting 167 
death sentences, President Bush, Prime Minister Tony Blair, French 
President Jacques Chirac, jailed Israeli nuclear technician Mordechai 
Vanunu, Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng, Women in Black for promoting 
Israeli-Palestinian ties, and Cuban human rights activist Oswaldo Paya 
Sardinas.

Experts agree there is no clear favorite. And it can be hard to guess. 
Last year, former President Carter wasn't seen as a strong candidate, 
but he received the prize.

Myth 2: A massive campaign for a particular candidate can sway the 
awards committee.

Wrong. It could have the opposite effect on the fiercely independent 
committee, since it fears its decision could appear to have been 
influenced by public pressure.

Myth 3: Candidates can be nominated until the last minute.

Wrong. The strictly enforced deadline for nominations being postmarked 
is Feb. 1.

Myth 4: Anyone can nominate a person or group for the Peace Prize.

Wrong. Nobel statutes clearly state who may make nominations: former 
laureates; current and former members of the committee and their staff; 
members of national governments and legislatures; university professors 
of law, theology, social sciences, history and philosophy; leaders of 
peace research and foreign affairs institutes; and members of 
international courts of law.

Myth 5: The prize can be revoked if a laureate does not live up to the 
standards of the peace prize.

Wrong. There are no provisions in the Nobel statutes for revoking the prize.

Myth 6: The prize can be awarded posthumously.

Wrong. The prize was awarded posthumously only once in 1961 to former 
U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammerskjold after he was killed in a plane 
crash in Africa. The rules were amended in 1974 to prohibit it.

Myth 7: The prize is awarded to recognize efforts for peace, human 
rights, and democracy only after they have proven successful.

More often, the prize is awarded to encourage those who receive it to 
see the effort through, sometimes at critical moments in a process 
despite the risk of failure.

Myth 8: The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by the Norwegian government.
Members of the Norwegian government and parliament are barred from the 
committee. Under the terms of the 1895 will of the prize's creator, 
Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, the five members of the Peace Prize 
committee are appointed by the parliament but are independent and do not 
answer to lawmakers.

Myth 9: The Nobel peace prize is awarded in Stockholm, Sweden.

It is awarded in the Norwegian capital of Oslo as stipulated in Nobel's 
will. The other five Nobel prizes are awarded in Stockholm.

Myth 10: A prize is awarded every year, and someone famous always gets it.

Wrong. The committee can award no prize, or give it to some little-known 
individual or group.

Maybe that's where you come in.