06/15/98 A CYBER 'QUILT' TO HONOR THE CANCER-STRICKEN

A CYBER 'QUILT' TO HONOR THE CANCER-STRICKEN

THERE ARE FABRIC QUILTS to remember AIDS victims and a wall to honor Vietnam veterans. Now, the Cancer Center run by Beth Israel Medical Center and St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York is creating a cyberspace ''quilt'' to pay tribute to those stricken with cancer.
Like its counterpart for AIDS victims, this cyber quilt (www.wehealnewyork.org) is made up of patches dedicated to cancer survivors and victims. Each patch has a color banner associated with the different kinds of cancer--pink for breast cancer and green for brain cancer, for example. Participants compose a tribute of up to 45 words, and the patch appears on the Net within 24 hours. Behind the scenes, Cancer Center employees screen the tributes, and then a software program builds the patch. The site makes its debut on June 7, in recognition of National Cancer Survivors Day.
Why take the tribute online? In the Age of the Internet, people around the globe have turned to cyberspace to express heartfelt feelings about victims of disease and untimely death. The messages for the Princess of Wales that flooded the World Wide Web convinced Cancer Center executive Maureen O'Connor that it was time to make a digital quilt. O'Connor says the Internet allows those who can't sew or can't travel to a city where an honorary event is taking place to feel a part of the celebration.
By Roger O. Crockett
EDITED BY PETER ELSTROM