Show AIDS AID S Memorial e ana Quilt Q Ul By Dan Staff Writer t. t 1 A portion of the AIDS Memorial Quilt went on display last Friday by r at Salt Lake Community Colleges College's South City Campus with its its' ts fabric acknowledging the lives of thousands thousands thousands thou thou- sands of victims of the AIDS pan pan- demic We were very happy to have these panels here said n Jackie Farnsworth Health and Well Wellness e s Services Promotions Promotion r Specialist fo for The quilt c c has quite a history Its It's been an r excellent way to make mak peo people le aware of the AIDS epidemic 10 of an estimated panels shown worldwide were carefully laid out across the gym floor at the school located at 1575 South State Street Haunting tones of Native American flute music music- filled the air as the names of many who have fallen victim to the AIDS virus were read aloud from The List of Names a catalog M published by the Names Project Foundation ti 4 Its a very powerful said Stan experience Executive Director of the Utah AIDS Foundation Many communities communities communities do not like to talk about AIDS it being a sexually transmit transmit- transmitted ted disease One of the incredible things about the quilt is its ability to communicate the impact of the disease without describing it The Quilt project began in 1985 when a time long-time gay rights activist Cleve Jones help helped d organize a candlelight march in San Francisco At the end of the theIS IS 5 march Jones and many other marchers posted signs on the federa federal fed fed- 4 era eral I building telling of friends and x loved ones lost to AIDS From a aj j distance the signs looked like a aw w patchwork quilt This inspired L Jones and slightly over one year i later the first panel was produced It is incredible the variety variety variety vari vari- ety of people represented said You can see a mom who made a panel for her son Its It's not just about the people who died its it's also about the people who survive survive survive sur sur- vive missing the people who died What the qu quilt lt communicates is AIDS impacts everybody Famous names etched upon the quilt include actors Rock Hudson Robert Mike Brady Reed and Anthony Perkins Also Alsor r included are tennis great Arthur Ashe on display at the campus and term nine Connecticut con- con gressman Stewart McKinney 37 Countries Countries' have Countries have contributed to to the quilt In the US U.S. all 50 states have submitted panels as have Guam and Puerto Rico In the his history history his his- tory of the qu quilt lt only five times has the quilt been displayed in its entirety all of which were in Washington DC D.C. The last time was in 1996 where the quilt covered covered cov- cov ered eyed the entire National Mall It currently weighs more than 50 tons and spans miles The enormity of of the quilt project is only overshadowed by bythe the enormity of the AIDS epidemic ic according to Farnsworth The entire quilt holds more than names of people who have died from the AIDS virus and yet this only represents about 19 of AIDS cases reported in the United States alone she said In other parts of the world the situation is much worse In some parts of Africa over 70 of the population are HIV positive That's men women and children Farnsworth said AIDS t is not ot just a gay disease it is is' isa a ai a- a heterosexual disease as w well ll I It It J i fast spreads spreads just as through 1 s. s In Utah there have been just over 2700 reported cases of HIV since the epidemic began two thousand of which have developed developed devel devel- in to full-blown full AIDS There is also an estimated 2000 people infected with the HIV virus who dont don't even know they have it said However the situation is improving according to Farnsworth The number of deaths have declined dramatically since 1996 when new AIDS drugs came out People have lived more than 35 years with HIV and not had it develop into AIDS she said Turnout at Fridays Friday's display display dis play was slightly more than Farnsworth attributes the relatively small turnout to lack of promotion and an underlying attitude of It doesn't affect me- me why should I worry about it Still many did come including Granite High Schools School's drama club as the students students students stu stu- dents took turns reading from The List of Names A great source of information information information mation on the AIDS Memorial Quilt is its official web site at org Farnsworth said If anyone has further questions questions questions ques ques- about AIDS or any other illness ill illness illness ill ill- ness call us at the Health and Wellness Services office at A D i S L TP p ne t c F r t Y t r v r F p 1 j FJ a i tl- tl ru b a i K t ayd e m z a oa u y c i o k g gk i l f iC A s J ryA C s 's r p iti uc X ni z y r. r Ay n 5 cL a 49 rG F 5 1 tinT anet r a tv k Z rt r al i F lS r 7 k S it jt f Ac r e fr eT S a YC s r a SY 5 a a jF C J 4 a y Fn c o- o ois is 1 rt 5 c a h c s 7 z 15 b S c r a lr tej 7 al i Nd 1 b gr s hr x ay 1 1 C a 59 x e kw L rah M r rr S 'S r f A AS A'S S a reya r ry m 1 r L It F I b S S AIDS Memorial in DC D.C. Quilt Washington |