School supplies Iraq

UC IRVINE — The image never left Nick Maselli's mind. Nearly four years ago, the U.S. Army military police officer was on patrol in Iraq when a car bomb exploded, sending shrapnel flying. A group of children raced over to the site of the explosion, gathered long pieces of shrapnel and stuck them in a nearby field — where they used them as soccer goalposts.

Maselli realized, watching them, that most Iraqi children made do with very little. Now, the UC Irvine student is on a mission to help them. Maselli, who transferred in the fall from Modesto Junior College, celebrated Valentine's Day by kicking off the Baghdad School Project at UCI.

The project, run by the social science department's Dean's Ambassadors Council, aims to provide pencils, paper, scissors and other materials to Iraqi schoolchildren. Shortly before noon Wednesday, Maselli and other students set up tables by the Social Science Tower and invited passersby to make donations.

"A total of $25 funds a student for one year," Maselli said. "We're doing it small or big, however people want to go."

The Dean's Ambassadors Council puts on a charity drive each year to benefit a different part of the world. Last year, the group purchased nets to shield Africans from malaria. Ellen Schlosser, the director of the Dean's Ambassadors Council, met Maselli at a transfer student orientation in the fall and picked him to head her upcoming project.

The council plans to hold a number of events this year to benefit the Baghdad School Project, including a drive on the campus' Ring Road and an April concert featuring a bill of independent bands. On Wednesday, students manned the donation tables while the social science department provided free sandwiches, cake and cookies in a room nearby.

A number of students and faculty members stopped by to donate cash and school supplies, although there were restrictions on the latter: Ambassadors council member Jeff Post said the Iraqi government had to approve books, and crayons were a no-go since they melt in the summer heat. In their place, council members asked for colored pencils.

"There are literally hundreds of thousands of children in Iraq who lack the basic necessities to go to school," Post said. "Their classrooms still have dirt floors."

Economics professor Gary Richardson, whose brother is serving in Iraq, came by during lunch to donate $50 and a pack of scissors.

"I think it's very important for the kids in Iraq and the soldiers," he said. "The happier the Iraqis are with us, the better relations they'll have with our troops, and the sooner they can come home."