ANNUAL HEMP FESTIVAL AIMS AT RAISING AWARENESS

It May Not Include Smoking Pot On The Quad, But It's Still Gonna Be A Good Time

KINGSTON--Ever since the URI group, The Hemp Organization for Prohibition
Elimination (H.O.P.E.) was founded three years ago, it has been fighting
for the legalization of hemp, an issue that rarely gets addressed.

According to H.O.P.E. president Ryan Palmer, the group was founded because
it wanted to educate people on the differences between hemp and marijuana,
and why it is so important for agricultural and industrial reasons.

For the past three years, H.O.P.E. has been rallying around the issue with
its Annual Day for H.O.P.E., a celebration for hemp and the earth, that
takes place on the quad.. This year's festival kicks off this Saturday from
noon to 11 p.m. featuring bands, speakers, vendors, food and fun.

Compared to last year's hemp festival, Palmer said the event is bigger
overall because the group was given more money to spend on lights, stages
and tents. The organization has also planned for five musical acts to grace
the celebration, all of which are of diverse genres.

"More entertainment will hopefully draw in more people," Palmer said. "It's
something fun to do on campus since student groups usually don't put on as
big of an event as this. It's also a good outlet for our group especially
since we have speakers and partitions."

Although the celebration is a great opportunity for people to get together
and discuss the issues on hand, Palmer said it's also a day of awareness
and education.

This year, H.O.P.E. has invited three speakers to the event - all of whom
have impressive credentials, Palmer said. John Dvorak, former editor of
Hemp Magazine, founder of the Boston Hemp Cooperative and chair on the
board of directors for the Hemp Industries Association, will be speaking
about his knowledge of hemp and the many uses of the product.

"We sent out e-mails to pro hemp groups and he was the most responsive and
the most qualified and enthusiastic," Palmer said. "We also have Adam
Dupont from the Green Party of Rhode Island speaking mainly because we want
to represent that party because it's fairly large in the state."

Nancy Hawksley, recycling coordinator for URI, will also speak concerning
what needs to be done with URI's recycling program and the advances
recycling has made in past years. On a political note, Palmer said he'd
like to see a good amount of signatures on the petitions from those in
attendance.

This year, the main goal of the group isn't to change the laws but to
inform people on an individual level, Palmer added. H.O.P.E. wants to spark
discussion between people, other organizations and the legislature. To that
end, the group sent out opinion polls across campus and the state to find
out what people think of hemp and if they would be curious enough to
research its causes. The group is currently collecting that data.

Palmer said he has been told many times by students that the festival is
their favorite day on campus and he and the group hope people enjoy
themselves as much as possible. To lend to that enjoyment, H.O.P.E. has
invited the groups, Homespun, Max Creek, Dub Squad, Black Eyed Susan and
the Miracle Orchestra to take part in the celebration.

"Homespun is my own band and we're a jam band that plays funk, rock and
roll and improvs," he said. "Dub Squad played here last year and we wanted
them to come back because we like reggae played during the day. Our group
is also pretty friendly with that band."

The "big draw" of the event is Max Creek, the nationally known jam band.
Palmer said the band attracts many to their concerts and he hopes the same
is true for the festival.

Miracle Orchestra were also present at the festival last year, playing
their blend of free-form jazz. Black Eyed Susan is a new attraction this
year, travelling from Maryland to attend. They are a more funk-oriented
band and are also personal friends of H.O.P.E., Palmer said.

"We also have vendors coming with all kinds of jewelry, clothing, hemp
necklaces and some that sell specialty items," Palmer added. "We have one
guy who sells Native American goods and those are the kinds of people we
try to attract. Most of the people are in business for themselves and have
hand made crafts like blown glass and homemade candles and soaps."

Palmer said most importantly though, he hopes people have fun and enjoy
themselves while first and foremost, they learn and take away something
about hemp.

"We want people inside and outside of the university to catch on to why
hemp is so important and maybe they'll join our mailing list and keep in
contact. We know as college kids that we're not going to change the laws
but we do want to inform people and get them started on talking about hemp."

The Third Annual Day for H.O.P.E., a celebration for help and the earth,
takes place this Saturday. on the quad. The festival kicks of at noon.