THREE RUNNERS TO SPAN AMERICA ON FOOT, RAISE HUMAN RIGHTS AWARENESS

Getting kicked off of their university campus when the Chinese ambassador visited only added fuel to the fire. Now, three students from Utah will run from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. spreading human rights awareness, culminating in a rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. They aim to raise one million dollars for three humanitarian projects. They will be delivering presentations along the way about human rights situations worldwide.

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - They were kicked off of their university campus for wearing "Free Tibet" t-shirts and handing out pamphlets during the visit of the Chinese ambassador. They responded with published editorials, mass political t-shirt distribution, and, well...organizing a three-and-a-half month, 3,000-mile run.

Three college students are making preparations to span the country on foot, from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., in an attempt to make a statement about dignity and human rights.

The run will culminate in early August with a rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington upon the runners' arrival.

"We want to do something that will catch people's attention," said Tyler De Waal, one of the students. "People don't always understand how horrible the situation is in other parts of the world."

The students hope to raise one million dollars to benefit Tibetan refugee education in India, an Ethiopian school-building project, and a small rehabilitation program for sexually exploited children. A network of support groups from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. will host human rights presentations delivered by the runners along the way.

"The ignorance, the apathy - it's got to end," De Waal said. "We want to wake people up."

The Trans-America Run will begin on 25 April, 2003.

The runners are members of the Relief Alliance, a small Utah-based NGO that has been involved in organizing fund-raising events in the Salt Lake area. The group deals primarily with Tibet and Burma.