It is never too late to learn about and remember those who have died from AIDS. Although World AIDS Day was last week, a few sections of the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt that were on display in the University Student Union still managed to have an impact on Cal State Long Beach Saturday.
The quilt was brought to CSULB as part of a project for Dr. Lester BrownÕs Social Work and AIDS Class.
The social work students added two news panels to the quilt to pay tribute to their loved ones who have died from AIDS.
According to Dr. Brown, the students have been working the entire semester raising funds for the visit and new panels.
"I think it is important for everybody to know something about AIDS," said social work student Dana Parmet. "The whole world has been affected by it."
The CSULB panels, as they were dubbed, are school colors Ñ black along the edges and gold in the middle.
Each panel measures 3 feet by 6 feet. As Brown described it, each panel represents the size of a grave.
One of the panels had the students' individual works as a tribute to someone they knew. The other panel, also in school colors, was for anyone who came, to sign their name or write a special message.
The new panels will eventually be sewn on to a section of the AIDS Quilt, but first they have to be sent to the main offices in San Francisco, Brown said.
Each section of the quilt is made up of eight panels. Each panel has its own significance about a person who died.
The panels are either painted or stitched with decorations, and have been carefully sewn onto the other panels.
Many of the students who participated in this project said it had an impact in their lives. Margaret Duenez, a CSULB Social Work and AIDS class student, spoke to the Long Beach Names Project Director Don Coombes and made the arrangements to bring the quilt here.
DuenezÕs 6 inch by 6 inch square in the studentsÕ panel has six different color balloons, each with a letter spelling out ÒStevie.Ó Stevie was the grandson of her boyfriendÕs boss.
According to Duenez, Stevie was born with AIDS and doctors gave him only five years to live. He was 7-years-old when he died earlier this year, she said.
Duenez said she didnÕt know him personally, but remembers him.
"I'm glad that he will be remembered in this sense," she said. "He's gone, but his memory will be remembered through our panel."
Jacquie Thill, a social work major working on her masterÕs degree, said she spent nearly nine hours working on the quilt.
"I worked on sewing and putting it together. Each square meant someone's life," Thill said. "I have not lost anyone personally to AIDS, but I have a daughter who is HIV positive
"I haven't lost her yet," Thill said.
Andrea Whalen, a social work student, said she has known people who have died from AIDS.
"It is important for me to be able to be a part of this," Whalen said. "I think it gives people the message that their life can live on in something that's a visual memorial, rather than just always reading statistics and not connecting a face to the name."
Another of the squares that stood out in prominenece, was one of a rose made in remembrance of Sharnee Houston's uncle Earl, a recovering substance abuser who died of AIDS. Houston said the rose was similar to a cloth rose with a stem her uncle gave her as a graduation gift.
Houston said her uncle told her he gave it to her because it would never die. In honor of Earl, Houston found an artist who worked on the square.
"I think it's beautiful. I told [the artist] the story and he took it as an idea for the panel," Houston said.
An anonymous donor promised to match the $500 that was collected to help the Names Project.
The four sections of the quilt that were on display came from different parts of the country, one as far away as Boston. One of the panels had a familiar name, Ryan White.
WhiteÕs panel was red and his name was spelled in white letters. Besides his name on the right corner was a candle that was sewn on with the title of Elton John's song, "A Candle in the Wind" delicately stitched.
According to Names Project, the entire quilt has about 43,100 panels. If all sections were combined in one place without a walkway, it would equal the size of 16 football fields and weigh 50 tons.
As many as 78,656 names are displayed on the quilt, representing about 22 percent of all U.S. AIDS deaths. Some recognizable names include tennis player Arthur Ashe, rap artist Eazy E, Freddie "Mercury" Bulsara, lead singer of rock group Queen, and Pedro Zamora, AIDS activist.