Students to hold vigil for victims

Jeff Benson

Effects of the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami in Southern Asia continue

to touch UC Irvine’s students and faculty a month later.

To commemorate the tsunami’s one-month anniversary, a dozen

student organizations have joined forces for the campus’ “Tsunami

Relief Week,” which began Monday and ends today.

A candlelight vigil will be held at 7 p.m. tonight at the

administration flagpole, accompanied by musical performances and

short speeches about the relief effort and the need for donations.

“We really have several goals for this,” said Edgar Dormitorio,

director of the UCI Volunteer Center. “Besides collecting donations,

we’re also hoping to raise awareness for the lives affected by the

tsunami disaster.

“Students are making the effort to make sure that information gets

out.”

The donations are no doubt helpful, but student Anant Sanchetee

feels they’re not everything. As a volunteer who’s leading the

American Red Cross relief effort on campus, Sanchetee’s concern is

with educating students and faculty on what happens next.

“Education is the primary goal, at least here on campus,”

Sanchetee said. “When the tsunami hit Southeast Asia, we saw on

television what the devastation was. But it’s the long-term effects

that we have to think about.”

To provide that education, the Red Cross is sponsoring a panel

discussion from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Humanities Instructional Building,

room 100, where UCI professors and administrators will examine and

answer questions about the tsunami’s political, social and economic

consequences.

If it rains, as expected, the vigil will likely take place in the

same room as the discussion, Dormitorio said. Each of today’s events

are free, but the UCI Coalition for Tsunami Relief hopes to raise

$25,000 this week to donate to countries affected by the Dec. 26

tsunami, which killed as many as 200,000 people and destroyed

countless homes and possessions.

The coalition has raised close to $60,000 throughout the month,

Dormitorio said.

Donations raised from the coalition’s three-day club fair will be

sent to the American Red Cross, UNICEF, Islamic Relief and Oxfam, a

British relief organization.

Students are helping out where they can. The Muslim Student Union

is collecting donated items at the Volunteer Center and has acquired

three large boxes and eight bags so far.

UNICEF has set up collection jars in several campus buildings,

including the Office of the Dean of Students.