Conference 7.286::digital

    re:
    
    >>...someone who has died of AIDS; for example, the DIGITAL panel
    >>   remembers all employees who have died from AIDS, but no names are
    >>   listed.
    
    ummmm, this does not make sense to me... would someone mind explaining.
    My confusion stems from the opinion I have that when someone is
    "remembered", it is their name that is used to help others remember
    them, so if no names are being remembered, then we are remembering
    DIGITAL??? or is this just DEC's way of granting some $$$ to a worthy
    cause??
    
    mildly curious -- bwe

    No, it's not DIGITAL's way of making a financial grant  The quilt panel
    was a volunteer effort on behalf of approximately 30 DECies. The panel
    states, "We remember our friends and colleagues who have died.  And we
    miss them."  There is, in the background, the mill and the clocktower. 
    It is two o'clock in the morning with a star-lit sky.  One light is on
    in the Mill.  True, it doesn't mention any one particular individual,
    but since the numbers of "friends and colleagues who have died" is a
    constantly growing number, it is all-encompassing.
    
    Hope you will take a chance to see the Quilt ....  I plan to.
    
    regards,
    Marge

    How about those who died in car accidents from cancer.....etc etc
    Did I miss anything ?
    /fred
    

    Fred, a life lost in a car crash or from cancer is, of course,
    memorable...no question.  Unfortunately, many lives that have been lost
    to AIDS/SIDA were "swept under the rug" due to prejudice or were simply
    lost in the vast numbers.  The NAMES Project was organized by folks who
    decided that people who had died of AIDS were also worthy of being
    remembered, and that survivors needed a way to memorialize their loved
    ones...thus the Quilt. The response to date would seem to validate that
    premise.  Also, the Quilt serves to heighten peoples' awareness of the
    disease and its infectious nature.  Hopefully, it will save some lives.
    
    I've attached the contents of a brochure describing the origins of the
    NAMES Project. It explains things much better than I.
    
    regards,
    Marge
    
         "It's one of the strange but wonderful things that happens in 
         a disaster like a plague or a war.  All at once a whole 
         nation faces a challenge -- the challenge to be there for one 
         another and to help each other through.  There's nothing good 
         about this plague, but there's a lot of good in the way 
         people respond to it.  What we're trying to do in the Project 
         is touch people's hearts with something that is so pure and 
         so clear in its message:  this is a matter of life and death.  
         We are changing the attitude of people by bringing them 
         something beautiful.  There is nothing beautiful about AIDS.  
         It is a hideous disease.  It does hideous things to peoples' 
         bodies and minds.  With the Quilt we're able to touch people 
         in a new way and open our hearts so that they no longer turn 
         away from it, but rather understand the value of all these 
         lost lives."
         
         			   Cleave Jones, executive director of
         					     The Names Project
         
         The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt is known around the 
         world as a symbol of the humanity behind the AIDS epidemic 
         statistics.  Made up of individual 3' x 6' panels, each 
         memorializing a person who has died of AIDS, the Quilt is an 
         example of the loving and compassionate response of which 
         each of us is capable. 
         
         Organized in June of 1987 by Cleve Jones and Mike Smith, the 
         NAMES Project Quilt included 1,900 panels for its inaugural 
         display in Washington, D.C on October 11, 1987.  Once year 
         later, when the Quilt had returned to Washington, the Quilt 
         had grown to more than 8,000 panels.  Such enormous growth in 
         only one year reflects not only the dramatic proportions of 
         the AIDS epidemic but also the commitment of thousands of 
         volunteers.
         
         CREATING A PANEL
         
         Panels are contributed to the NAMES Project Quilt from all 
         walks of life, from families, lovers, and friends of those 
         who have lost someone to AIDS.  And each panel is as unique 
         as the person it memorializes.  Names, dates, and personal 
         information are often included, as well as favorite objects 
         or special mementos.  Many panels clearly show the love that 
         was felt for the person who died; others show the fear of 
         prejudice, arriving without last names or other identifying 
         details.  Perhaps most important though, creating a panel 
         helps people confront the pain and grief of their loss and 
         can be an important step out of isolation. 
         
         Once panels are received in San Francisco they are catalogued 
         and sewn together in blocks of eight.  Letters and photos 
         describing those memorialized, are filed.  All information, 
         including the panel makers identity, is kept strictly 
         confidential unless permission has been granted to do 
         otherwise. 
         
         ON THE LOCAL LEVEL
         
         In many cities interest in the Quilt has been so great that 
         NAMES Project Chapters have formed.  These chapters help 
         local people make panels and also help publicize the Project.  
         Community participation also comes from merchants who donate 
         working space and sewing materials. 
         
         Chapters also help organize displays of the Quilt,  giving 
         local people the opportunity to see the Quilt and understand 
         the names behind the statistics.  Displays also help dispel 
         some of the prejudices and false information surrounding 
         AIDS, and encourage people to learn about the disease.  
         
         Donations collected at the displays benefit local 
         organizations who provide direct care services to people with 
         AIDS and their families.  In the spring of 1988, the Quilt 
         toured the United States, visiting 20 cities and raising more 
         than $400,000.
         
         For more information, exact dates and display locations, 
         contact the local AIDS organizations. 
         
         <<the above text excerpted from the NAMES Project pamphlet>> 
     

    Hi Marge,
    Viewn from that perspective, it is positive.
    Thanks,
    Fred
    

    	Is there any significance to the time on the tower clock, or the
    	one light in the window, or the nomber of stars, etc.?
    
    	Joe Oppelt

    while i am sure someone more closely involved with the quilt will
    answer, i remember that the light (sole worker late in the eve/morn)
    was a rememberance of someone always working in the Mill, no matter the
    day or hour. 
    
    rene

    The interpretation is left to the viewer....
    
    mdh

    
    
    The tower clock shown on the quilt is set at 2:20(am).
    
    

I don't know what rendition of the clock Bob Cansler is talking about.

As has been pointed out, the quilt isn't 12:05.

The official DEC belt buckles with the clock on them have the time set
to about 5:12.

Clock faces are normally drawn with the hands in a position which "looks
good" to the artist.

If Maynard's town fire horn sounds at 12:05 instead of 12:00, then Maynard
is not following the nationwide standard for testing fire horns each day
at noon (or the fire station's clock is off).

/john

   Maaynard's town fire horn was supposedly rung at 10 past 12  so as to not
   confuse it with the Mill Noon whistle. (This is, of course, when the Mill
   had a noon whistle.)
   
   q
   

	In addition to the speakers at this Wednesdays Corporate Kick-off Rally
for the AIDS Walks, a viewing of the AIDS Panel will be held as well. Several
people donated time and effort to either make a panel for someone they know, or
make a panel for someone else from the company for someone they knew. 

	The overall collection of panels was named after Jeremy Mathews. He was 
a DIGITAL employee who died of AIDS last summer. There have been about 10
people who submitted panels of people they knew who died of AIDS complications. 

	The panel can be viewed between the hours of 11:00-1:00 in the cafe
annex at HLO2 on Wednesday, May 14th.




Glen