Ten squares of the AIDS Memorial quilt were on display in Wilder Main this past week and will remain up until tomorrow. These squares belong to a growing collection of approximately 47,000 panels commemorating more than 91,000 victims of HIV and AIDS in the United States.

Started in 1987, the quilt has been maintained by the NAMES Project Foundation. It has become the largest memorial and public art project dedicated in memory of people lost to the virus and disease, but even in its entirety, it only represents 17.5 percent of all AIDS-related deaths in the United States.

Almost every one of the 91,000 names on the quilt is memorialized on a 3� by 6� panel, personalized by loved ones of the deceased; each square is colorfully decorated with photographs, patches and clothing, among other things. Eight individual panels are assembled into a single block, which measures 12 square feet, and are the units of the quilt constantly displayed around the country on loan from the national headquarters of NAMES in Atlanta, Georgia.

The display of the quilt is the central event in a weeklong campaign to promote HIV and AIDS Awareness on campus, which started last Sunday with an Oberlin Chamber Orchestra featuring pianist Barbara Nissman. Parts of the quilt were also on display during the concert in Finney Chapel. The week of events concludes with a concert from Salman Ahmad, a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador and lead guitarist of the Pakistani rock band Junoon, in Warner Concert Hall at 8:00 p.m. tonight.

Funding for the week of events came in large part from the Robert James Frascino AIDS Foundation. Dr. Frascino, OC �74, contracted the virus performing a medical procedure on an HIV-positive patient in 1991. Since his retirement from medicine in 1996, Frascino has been committed to promoting HIV/AIDS awareness. More information about the quilt and HIV/AIDS awareness can be found at www.aidsquilt.org.