Wednesday, April 7, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section A·Page 3
Messages personalize AIDS quilt
By T.J. Johnson
By T.J. Johnson
johnson@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
A plain three-by-three foot piece of fabric hangs in the lobby of City Hall with a marker attached, waiting to record the thoughts and feelings of those who have had their lives touched by AIDS.
The panel is one part of the Community Quilt "Signature Squares," which are on display as part of the Douglas County AIDS Project's AIDS Awareness Month at various locations around Lawrence. The quilt panel was first displayed April 1.
Below the panel, a message invites visitors to record their thoughts about how they have been impacted by AIDS or to write in a memory of someone who has died.
A Community Quilt panel hangs in the City Hall entryway. Panels such as these commemorate the Douglas County AIDS Project's 10th anniversary. Photo by Michael Patrick Kelly/KANSAN
Catherine Bolton, a member of the Board of Directors at DCAP and a KU social welfare student, organized the Lawrence Community Quilt. She said she was involved in the national Names Project Quilt that included a blank area for people to write in individual comments about their feelings and experiences with AIDS.
That blank area was part of the inspiration for the Community Quilt.
Bolton said the panels were a way for people to share feelings they had, which they might not otherwise have expressed.
About four of the quilt panels will circulate in Lawrence this month to allow people to see the impact of AIDS in the community and to add their personal messages.
One panel will be on display at City Hall for the entire month of April, another will be at the Lawrence Public Library April 10 and 24 and others will be at events scheduled around town during AIDS Awareness Month.
DCAP. Hardgrave said that this was the first year the quilt panels had been displayed and that the event was part of commemorating DCAP's 10th anniversary this month.
"Wherever there is an event, we will be there," said Sidney Hardgrave, Executive Director of DCAP.
Bolton said the quilt panels eventually would be put together and could be presented with the Names Project Quilt on World AIDS Day in December.
the people DCAP has served during the past decade also will be included.
A second quilt commemorating
Bolton said that during the late '80s, the Names Project Quilt was a way of dealing with the stigma that had been placed on the AIDS epidemic.
"When you are among those panels, it gives you an overwhelming feeling of humanity," she said. "It offers an opportunity to humanize the individual and remember and honor that person's struggle with this disease."
Edited by Melody Ard
Student report: Writer's Roosts successful
Bv Ezra Sykes
esykes@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The report is in — the Roost's a boost
About 25 people gathered yesterday afternoon at the Sunflower Room in the Burge Union to listen to five students present information they had gathered in an extensive survey about the KU writing center, popularly known as the Writer's Roosts.
"Ifigured they'd just go in and blast you," Nick Adams, Ft. Scott freshman, said. "But the tut went through and helped me clean up the confusing spots."
"It gave me a head start," he said.
Adams was one of the five students who presented and said that working on the project gave him a helpful insight to the writing program.
The students were part of a 43-person group, made up of two English 101 classes, that worked together to author a report on the Writer's Roosts and, in the process, expand upon their
The teacher of the two English 101 classes, Angela Place, Lenexa graduate student, worked with Michele Eodice, assistant director of Writer's Roosts to make the report happen.
own writing, reading and thinking skill
"101 is usually kind of a grind," said Place, explaining the desire to make the basic English class a little more exciting.
The class first did its fieldwork. Students interviewed KU students and professors about the writing center. Several then went to the Writer's Roosts "undercover" and asked tutors to help them with their papers.
944 Mass.
832-8228
The group evaluated other Big 12 Conference schools' writing centers and collaborated to finish the report.
Place said that three major conclusions came from the report:
One, faculty members wanted students to go to the writing center but didn't think it was their place to tell them to do so.
Two, tutors were fairly consistent in their evaluations of student papers.
And three, students didn't know the writing center even existed.
But that is understandable. The Writer's Roosts have only been on campus since October 1998.
Eodice, assistant director of the group, said the group acted as a terrific ambassador for the writing center.
Eric Snider, Wichita sophomore, is a tutor for the Writer's Roosts and said the report was encouraging.
"It's exciting to see people grow so much in their confidence in writing," he said. "I feel good anytime someone leaves with a better paper."
The Writer's Roosts are open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Monday through Thursday at the Sunflower
Room in the Burge Union and 4003 Wescoe Hall.
They also are open from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays in Templin Hall and until 10 p.m. Wednesday in the Burge Union. There are additional services from noon to 4 p.m. Monday through Wednesday at 4006 Wescoe.
- Edited by Kelly Ahrendt
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