To commemorate the World Health Organization's ninth annual World AIDS Day, panels of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, an international memorial to those who have died of AIDS, will be displayed at Cornell University Dec. 2-4.

The display will be open Dec. 2, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Dec. 3 and 4, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., in the Memorial Room of Willard Straight Hall. Special events in connection with the quilt display will also be scheduled.

The display is free and open to the public. T-shirts will be sold to support HIV education on campus and in Tompkins County and the NAMES Project.

The Cornell exhibit will include 80, three-by-six-foot panels, each commemorating the life of someone who has died of AIDS.

"Our community has been and continues to be hurt by this epidemic, more than most people are able to say, more than many people want to see," said Sharon Dittman, coordinator of Cornell AIDS Action. "Having the quilt here, in our midst, will be a reminder that many of the people who have died are individuals and are loved by members of our community. We all are living with AIDS. The quilt display will give us an occasion to come together to remember, to support, to see -- perhaps for the first time -- and to strengthen our resolve to do our part to stop this epidemic."

Schools, organizations and businesses interested in participating in or co-sponsoring the quilt display can contact Cornell AIDS Action at 255-4782. Members of the Cornell and Tompkins County communities who have made panels for the quilt that they would like to dedicate at the display also are encouraged to contact Cornell AIDS Action.

World AIDS Day displays of the quilt will be held concurrently around the world with the theme of "One World, One Hope." The panels on display at Cornell will represent only a small portion of the almost 38,000 panels that make up the entire NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, which includes panels from all 50 states and more than 40 countries.

Sponsors of the display include: Cornell AIDS Action, Student Health Alliance at Cornell, Willard Straight Hall Programming Board, Southern Tier AIDS Program, AIDSWork of Tompkins County, Greek Life, LBGT Resource Center, LBGT Peer Counseling, Cornell Abroad, University Health Services, the Dean of Students Office, Community Development and many co-sponsors.

For more information, call Cornell AIDS Action at 255-4782.