J
RUN. JUMP. CLIMB. HURDLE. BUILD
DENCE?
Love letter
from Iwo Jima
A GUILFORDIAN STAFF
WRITER'S FIRST-HAND
EXPERIENCE WITH RACISM
ON CAMPUS
Two weekends ago, I was headed
home in the wee hours of the morning af
ter hanging out with friends on campus.
Walking to my car in the Bryan lot, I heard
a raucous group of people. As I warily ap
proached them, one of the members of the
group, a white male, rowdily hailed me.
Sort of.
"Hey, watch out!" he said to his female
companion. "It's Chinese dude! How's it
going, Chinese dude?"
Taken aback by this rude address, I re
sponded coolly in kind. "What's up? Keep
walking."
The student seemed confused by my
response. "Why would he say that ...why
would he say something like that?"
I found my car and left.
Hardly a harrowing experience.
However, although at first glance the
incident seems like it went rather swim
mingly, I was sorely disappointed in my
new friend.
Sure, he was sensitive enough to recog
nize my love of fried rice and Jay Chou,
and therefore accordingly address me as
"Chinese dude!" but I didn't feel like he
got me.
But since a dark parking lot is no place
to have a nice pot-luck and roundtable
discussion about racial insensitivity, let
me break down exactly why I responded
so negatively to his obviously well-inten
tioned overture of friendship.
I am ethnically Vietnamese, not Chi
nese. There was no way this guy could've
known his error or differentiated the nu
ances of these ethnicities, but that's not
really the problem. Apparently to him, all
Asians and Asian Americans are suitably
"Chinese" enough to all fit under that ill-
suited label.
Don't get me wrong; the Chinese peo
ple dominate at gymnastics and kung fu.
They make a fine shoe, and who doesn't
See "Tristan" on page iO
Q
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On Sept. 2 3. services were held on campus in
memory of|unior Caittin Leo, whn away
this summer. Students, faculty, and staff gathered
to celebrs^e her life.
0 I r.
Guilford remembers Caitlin Lee
By Amanda Pressley
Forum Editor
As we grow up we make all sorts of
friends.
The boy you used to play patty cake
with in preschool. The little girl who
shared her Lunchables with you in third
grade. Your middle school posse that
gathered to dish about first Idsses. And
the faces you searched for in the crowd
as you accepted your high school diplo
ma.
But then there are the friendships
made in college.
Those friendships go beyond pre-k
games or crackers and cheese, beyond
Wsses (though that topic is discussed at
length) and graduation. Friends made
in college become family and as a family
you map out your futures.
Over the summer, a tragedy stole a
member of my Guilford family.
Caitlin Christine Lee, 20, died in a car
accident on July 27, following a fun-filled
weekend at King's Island amusement
park with friends Jackson Harris and
Caitlin Currey, and her boyfriend, Ryan
Williams.
My plans for the future instantly
changed.
See "Caitlin Lee" on page 8
Step Into Africa exhibit gives a face to AIDS epidemic
By Matt Boulette
Staff Writer
A girl carries a goat given to her family through
World Vision International.
The Westover Church on
Muir's Chapel road recently
hosted a World Vision pre
sentation of their Step Into
Africa program. Running
from Sept. 4 through Sept. 8,
the program aimed to raise
awareness about the con
stant specter of AIDS and its
daily visitations on the lives
of African families.
With a firm message of
hope through faith, the
exhibit invited visitors to
experience the struggles
and perils of life in nations
such as Uganda, Kenya and
Lesotho, the epicenters of
the AIDS epidemic.
Upon entering the behe
moth of a church, I quickly
found my way to the exhibit,
where volunteers assisted me
in procuring a headset for
the audio experience. I was
greeted by the wise, slightly
echoing voice of Halima, my
guide, who invited me to
"step out of my world" and
into "the pulse of Africa."
Directed by mystical
drumming and chanting, I
stepped through a curtain
and into the life of Mathabo,
a six-year-old girl living in
Lesotho, an enclave nation
within South Africa where
one in four adults are living^'
with HIV or AIDS.
Mathabo suffers the
dire fate of many Africans.
In addition to widespread
poverty, 12 million children
have lost one or both par
ents to AIDS, and in Lesotho
alone, 56,000 children have
been rendered orphans by
See "Step Into Africa" on page 9