Ceremony tonight will honor dead, soldiers sret-lAL TO THE CHRONICLE A ceremony this evening (March 27) at 7 at Lloyd Presbyterian Church, 748 Chestnut St., will commemorate the American lives that have been lost in Iraq. This week, the total number of U.S. military deaths from the Iraq War reached 4,000. Thousands of Iraqis have also died in the five-year-old con flict. Events across the country have been held to bring attention to the deaths. The Lloyd event will "mourn the human cost of war, call for the troops to come home, and support funding an Iraqi-led reconstruction of that war-torn country." This event is sponsored by the local office of the American Friends Service Committee, along with local "peace allies" such as the St. Anne's Iraq Study Group and Lloyd Presbyterian. * "This event is a testament to our commitment to change course in Iraq," says Ann Lennon of the American Friends Service Committee. "Not one more Iraqi or one more U.S. sol dier should be killed and not one more dollar spent on sustaining this war and occupation. We should focus on diplomacy and reconstruction instead." American Friends Service Committee have called for such events across the nation. For more information about the nationwide memorial events, visit wwwjafsc.org/4000. Second Homeless Connect event will be April 9 ' SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE The 2008 Project Homeless Connect will be held in the LJVM Coliseum Annex on Wednesday, April 9 from 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Project Homeless Connect is a one-day, one-stop shop with a goal ofi>ringhig together people who are homeless or experiencing a housing crisis with volunteers and service providers on site to establish the necessary connections to end their housing crisis. Services available include housing assis tance, emergency financial assistance, employ ment, job training and education opportunities, substance abuse treatment information, the Social Security Administration, legal services, the Veterans Administration, medical care, vic tims' advocates, medical care. Transportation assistance to the event will be available for individuals who would otherwise be unable to attend. Project Homeless Connect is sponsored by Mayor Joines, The City of Winston Salem/Forsyth County, United Way of Forsyth County, Inc., BB&T, American Express, and North Carolina Interagency Council on Homelessness, Sprint, Target, and others. It is part of our effort to implement the vision of the Ten Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness, by improving people's access to the services critical to ending their home lessness. The project is modeled on the successful one-stop service centers organized by commu nities across the country to assist Hurricane Katrina evacuees and the "Stand Downs" organized by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The 2007 event generated a multitude of positive outcomes from just one day of com munity involvement. More than 370 people were served, including 18 people who received housing placements; 34 people received HIV screening from the Sickle Cell Association of the Piedmont; 21 people received financial assistance from the Salvation Army, both in housing plagement/and financially; 50 people received haircuts, 30 people took showers, more than 400 "goodie" bags were distributed containing food, toiletries, socks, underwear, t-shirts and 50 children received stuffed ani mals. For more information Project Homeless Connect, contact Andrea Kurtz at 721-9373. Vera Stepp Garden JfoMpigeAl located off of Shorefair Drive, near the Dixie Classic Fairgrounds. The cemetery, named after the Odd Fellows fraternal organ ization, began in 1911 and is estimated to be the final resting place for as many as 10,000 people. It's otie of the oldest and largest African- American ceme teries in Winston-Salem. Clybum, who has family buried in Odd Fellows, said progress is being made. "It's going real well," he said. "You can see a big differ ence in it." Nearly two acres have been cleared, he said, and the ceme tery has been added to the city's and state's list of historic land marks. Plans are underway to get it added to a national historic registry as well. Clybum hopes the garden, which is located next to the cemetery's former caretaker's house, will attract loved ones of those buried in Odd Fellows and get them involved in the recla mation effort. "Once they come up and see the cemetery and see how it's been cleaned off, they might get interested in cleaning their own family plots off," said Clybun, who added that those who can't donate physical labor to the effort can give financial dona tions. Many of the flowers that had been placed in the garden had been put there by committee members with loved ones buried in Odd Fellows. The commit tee's secretary. Vera Stepp, actu ally planted flowers there to honor her late husband, Henry Stepp Sr., a former president of the committee who was buried last year. Henry Stepp 's burial was the first at Odd Fellows since an uncle of Clyburn's was buried there in 1984. Vera Stepp admitted that even when restoration efforts are complete, some families still will be unable to locate the grave sites of their loved ones. "As old as as it is ... there are going to be grave sites we are not going to be able to identify, and there are going to be family members here who ... know they have family members here and have no idea where they are buried," she said. "The idea of the memorial garden is it gives you an opportunity to memorial ize those persons without hav ing to actually find the grave site." Plans are to eventually cre ate a permanent memorial gar den for the cemetery. Vera Stepp said the committee will work with community groups to restore the care taker's house so that it can serve as a place to honor those buried in Odd Fellows. Dick Fulp has been leading volunteers in clearing the ceme tery's overgrowth for nearly three years now. He was drawn to the cause by his fascination with old, abandoned cemeteries and is now the committee's vice-president. Community volunteers have come from groups such as the Boy Scouts and the Northwest Piedmont Council of Government's Service Corps. Fulp said when he began work ing on the cemetery, he could only see one tombstone. Now, dozens of tombstones are in the clear, even though a lot of work is left to do. Fulp agrees that family involvement is vital to clearing and maintaining the cemetery. "The key to the future is get ting people interested in their family plots, and we'll help them in any way we can, but they got to help us keep those plots clear," said Fulp. The Odd Fellows Cemetery is open 9 am. - 5 pm? every day. The entrance to the ceme tery is on Shorefair Drive, next to Senior Services Inc., near the intersection of Shorefair and Deacon Boulevard. For more information about the restora tion effort, contact James Clyhurn at 723-6452. Photos by Todd Luck Families placed flowers in the garden for Easter. Project Treasurer Doris Woodruff Dick Fulp Farrakhan Jhm page AT nation if he went out on his own." Now Bailey and others say it is time to recognize Farrakhan for his contribu tions to society, by bestowing him with a WSSU honorary degree. "This man is one of the most famous alums that we ba?e . He's known all over the ^Hd," Bailey commented. Bailey says that leaders of WSSU's National Alumni Association are also in favor of awarding Farrakhan an honorary degree. However, calls left for two leaders of the association were not returned by press time. Aaron Singleton, director of news and media relations,, says that the school adheres to a strict policy when determin ing who should be given the honor, which is presented -at school commencement cere monies. WSSU's next gradua tion is in May. "Our process is for the Academic Affairs Committee of the WSSU Board of Trustees to present names and make recommendations to the full board during the execu tive session of WSSU board meetings," he stated. "As in accordance with state policy, the WSSU full board then will discuss and vote for a deci sion." Though the Million Man March founder and Nation of Islam leader never completed his education at WSSU, Bailey says he can think of no one more worthy of such a gesture. WSSU Student Government Association President Robert Stephens says he will probe the matter more deeply, but as of now, he does not have a problem with the school honoring Farrakhan, who converted to Islam in the 1950s after a brief career as a calypso sineer. "Even though he is a con troversial figure, he is a Ram and one thing that we always like to say is, 'Once a Ram, always a Ram,' so based upon ? Bailey that standpoint, that's why 1 support it," said Stephens. Though respected by many, Farrakhan is one of the nation's most controversial figures. The New York native has been called the "Black Hitler" by Jewish groups who object to his views of their religion. Farrakhan is also an unabashed Afrocentric who often expresses his belief that blacks are Earth's original inhabitants. Some have said those views are anti- white. The minister has also been criticized for hjs statements on homosexuality. Just recently, the presiden tial campaign of Sen. Barack Obama felt it necessary to dis tance itself from Farrakhan after the minister made some glowing remarks about Obama, touting him as "the hope of the entire world." Bailey knows that Farrakhan rubs many people the wrong way, but Bailey contends that the ability to spark emotional responses has helped the minister move his objectives forward. "I think he's just like the Stephens Black Panthers - his move ment had a place in history," Bailey said. "I think some things that we have accom plished, if it weren't for peo ple like Louis Farrakhan, we never would have accom plished." The minister has lived up to the school's motto, "Enter to learn, depart to serve," in Stephens' estimation. "He has blazed quite a path." he remarked. "Whether it's been positive or negative, he's been an indi vidual who's stood up for what he believes in. I think that is the very essence of what our university teaches, to take a stance on issues and be a leader." The Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet tomorrow (March 28). Bailey says he requested to address the board, but was denied. * Winston-Salem State's Rudy Anderson acknowl edged that the matter would be discussed at the upcoming meeting, but said that the board's decision will not be released until a later date. ? KIDNEY FAILURE LINKED TO DRUG USED DURING SURGERY Trasylol?, a drug used to control bleeding during surgery, has been linked to kidney failure, dialysis and death. If you or a loved one had surgery and then developed kidney failure, call us now at 1-800-THE-EAGLE for a free consultation. 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