Setting crop color in Image Events

I have built a script that will take JPGs, size them (using conditional statements), then crop the image to a standard common size using Image Events App. I prefer using this application above Photoshop due to speed. In croping the images, the final image dimension is always larger than the origonal. Everything works well, except for the fact that the crop command uses black for the background color. like I said, I,m adding area to the image, but the new area comes out black.
My question is: Can I set Image Events to default to white for the color of the background?

Thanks much for your help,
Due to this site, I have learned loads, any really enjoy scripting.

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Operating System: Mac OS X (10.4)