Black armbands bring light to Lebanon's blackouts
Strapping black armbands to their biceps, Arab Student Organization members hope to raise awareness for the political situation in Lebanon.
Following border skirmishes, Israeli air strikes hit Lebanese power plants.
"Part of the tragedy is the fact that civilians were targeted," said second-year College student Laila Kassis, a member of ASO. Because of the power outage "babies on incubators and people on life support might die. It was an act of warfare that has broken previous agreements."
"It's the middle of winter, and these people have no heat and no electricity. It could take up to 10 months to rebuild," said third-year Commerce student Zena Abou-Said, also a member of the ASO. "It's so hard to live without the basic things."
After three days of wearing armbands and tabling on the Lawn to increase awareness, the ASO sponsored a discussion on the Lebanese crisis Tuesday night.
"In my mind, the crisis cannot be viewed without considering the human dimension," said Asst. Arabic Prof. Waddah al-Khatib, who opened Tuesday's discussion. "Beirut is a city of almost two million people who are without electricity. We take it for granted in our country."
Some students opted to wear a black ribbon to show their support, similar to AIDS and breast cancer awareness ribbons. They plan to continue their awareness campaign at least until the crisis subsides.
"During our days on the Lawn, we signed about 250 letters to Congress," Kassis said. "We've created some debate and discussion and want to keep on doing it as long as this continues."
Cornucopias of charity
Like Christmas in July, the Darden Marketing Club has brought Thanksgiving to February.
"No one should go hungry any day of the year," Thanksgiving in February Chairwoman Kim Lockhart said. "Charities receive a lot of donations during the Thanksgiving season ... now is not their peak time."
Twelve restaurants have agreed to donate up to 25 percent of their profits from lunch and/or dinner Feb. 24.
All money will go toward three local charities that provide hunger relief and money for needy families. Among these charities are the Thomas Jefferson Food bank, the Emergency Food Bank and the Salvation Army.
"The restaurants do all the work, and we just increase the door traffic," Lockhart said. "All the restaurants are owned by locals and want to give back to the community."
Brian Painter, general manager of Awful Arthur's Seafood, said this is the third year the restaurant has participated in the event. Awful Arthur's will donate 10 percent of the proceeds from dinner Feb. 24.
"We get a fair amount of people who come specifically to support it," Painter said.
Other restaurants participating in the event include Baja Bean Company, Big Jim's Bar-B-Que, Brick Oven Pizza, Casella's Italian Restaurant and the Hardware Store.
Compiled by Josie Roberts
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