Newspapers / The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.) / Sept. 26, 2008, edition 1 / Page 2
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WWW.GUlLFORDlAN.COM MEL CHIN Kathryn Shields,Assistant Professor of Art and Guilford's Art Historian, brought conceptual artist Mel Chin to speak at Guilford. Chin talks about his Fundred Dollar Bill Project Bill Project. When Hurricane Katrina threw the spotlight onto New Orleans, it was announced in the wake of its destruction that lead levels in the city's soil were dangerously high. Some neighborhoods had as much as 2000 parts/million—five times the maximum "safe" amount of 400 parts/million. Although it was initially thought that the hurricane de million. The project is open to peo ple of aJl ages, although Chin emphasized the importance of getting the younger generation active and involved. "1 look at a sea of young people like you and it gives me hope for the sea of destruc tion," said Chin as he encour aged Guilford students and faculty to make their own hun dreds. ook at a sea of young people like you and it gives me hope for the sea of destruction." Mel Chin, visiting artist posited the lead, the Environ mental Protection Agency said it had been there long before the storm hit. As a result, 30 percent of children in the city have blood poisoning. Chin's Fundred Dollar Bill Project aims to treat the source of the problem. During his in formal discussion in Hege-Cox Hall on Sept. 19, Chin expand ed on how Fundred plans to do so. The project asks elementary through high school age stu dents to make hundred dollar bills—he hopes to produce 300 Once Ftmdred have enough bills, they are going to drive a renovated armored car around the country to pick them up and deliver the "money" to Washington, D.C. "We're going to ask for an even exchange of 300 million big ones," said Chin. "We need the voices of those most dramatically affected by lead on paper. IGds can't vote, but they can draw." Senior Sam Sklover thinks that the project has enormous potential. "I believe it will be successful," said Sklover. "I do not believe that any politi cian is heartless enough to veto 300 million children saying that New Orleans should be cleaned." With the money’from Con gress, Chin will begin the sec ond part of the project, known as Paydirt. To neutralize the lead in the soil. Paydirt will mix it with ground up fishbone, which contains phosphate. "Phosphate loves lead," said Chin. "It's like this chemi cal sex that occurs." The phosphate in the fish bone binds with the lead and keeps it from remaining and doing damage in the human body. Once the soil is treated, they will cover it with six inches of dirt dredged from the mouth of the Mississippi River. Chin believes that fixing the soil is the first step to rebuilding New Orleans. "If you build on top of soil that is this polluted, there's no game because your children will be poisoned," said Chin. Chin envisions Fundred and Paydirt as a blueprint for the cleanup of other cities with high lead contamination. "I like that this is a pilot project," said Newton. "I can imagine it generating interest in toxic soil sites all over the country, all over the world. He's the kind of guy who could make that happen." Local colleges honor struggle for civil rights GUILFORD IS PART OF A PROJECT TO DIGITIZE AND RECORD MATERIAL FROM THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA By Mory Bubar Staff Writer The Civil Rights Greensboro (CRG) project will digitize and provide context for selected archival materials from the civil rights era of 1945 to 1980 in Greens boro. Guilford is working to develop this web site in collaboration with Duke Uni versity, Greensboro College and UNCG. The collection will feature items from the Friends Historical Collection such as the 1963 arrest record of former Guilford student Hulda Elizabeth Taylor. She do nated a small collection of writings and artifacts from her first year when ar rested for partic ipating in a sit-in in downtown Greensboro. Taylor's do nation of cards and letters from friends and family, as well as a jour nal of her experi ences, will soon be available to view. The CRG expects project completion by spring of 2009. CRG hopes this free and virtual resource will benefit the Guilford community by providing easier access to primary sources. "The project will include the Woolworth's sit-in, school desegregation and the so-called Greens boro Massacre in 1979," said Ginny Daley, CRG project manager at UNCG. "Lesser known events will also be included that occurred throughout the late 50's 60's and 70's in the struggle for equal treat ment in public accommodations, schools, housing, politics and employment." In the past, UNCG worked with Greensboro Public Library to combine oral histories into a collection for the Greensboro VOICES project. The CRG was created when UNCG recognized that combining local archives would serve the public better if they were made accessible. The State Library of North Carolina awarded the grant funds to coordinate each school's historical collection online to create stronger libraries and make in formation accessible to the public. "Timing of the grant dovetails nicely with the colleges work on antiracism and diversity," said Gwen Erickson, Guilford archivist and librarian. "The Web site will be dynamic and user friendly," said Erickson. "Someone can go deep and pull up a whole docu ment, like Taylor's arrest record, but also browse what was going in Greensboro simultaneously." Guilford project interns collect data from The Guilfordian, photographs, news clippings, letters and other student publica tions as well as oral history in terviews. "All materi als are digitized and catalogued and then com bined in a da tabase," said Daley. "As you can imag ine, it takes a lot of detailed work behind the scenes to bring ev erything to gether." C C E student Scotty Woods enjoys his CRG in ternship this semester. "So far it has been very interesting. The majority of the work involves read ing through old trustee records, admin istration meeting minutes and all the Quaker yearbooks." Woods' exposure to campus data al lowed him to learn about Guilford's role in the civil rights movement in Greens boro. "The college did not allow blacks (to register) but would always invite the latest R&B artists like The Drifters and The Platters to perform at the college dances." 2008 FALL SEMESTER AFRICANA FILM SERIES Leak Room, 8 PM - 10 PM Sponsored by the African American Studies Program, African Studies Area of the In ternational Studies Program, and the Multicultural Resource Center Oct. I - "Sankofa" Introduced by Carolyn Beard Whitlow
The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.)
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