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Soap Sheets A total of 50,000 Sudanese refugees have left Uganda since the beginning of the voluntary repatriation exercise last year.The latest batch of 240 Sudanese left Palorinya refugee settlement in Moyo district on Friday. According to a statement from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, (UNHCR), the refugees who were heading for the Eastern Equatorial region in Sudan, were given blankets, sleeping mats, plastic sheets, mosquito nets, water buckets, kitchen sets, jerrycans, soap, seeds and tools."More Sudanese are waiting for our support to return home," said Stefano Severe, the UNHCR representative.According to UNHCR, about 24,000 refugees have been repatriated to Sudan this year and the number is expected to increase since a plan to scale up the exercise began this month.The scheme is expected to almost triple the number of refugees returning home from an average of 1,200 to over 3,000 weekly.A recent re-verification exercise by UNHCR revealed that 59,000 Sudanese refugees were no longer living in the refugee Soap Sheets in Moyo, Arua, Yumbe, and Adjumani districts. The majority are believed to have returned to Sudan."Almost 110,000 Sudanese refugees have returned from Uganda to Sudan in total," said Roberto Russo, the external relations officer.Jennifer Modong, a 42-year-old widow, said: "I am happy to be returning home. I look forward to settling down and building a house when I reach home,"Uganda hosts 174,958 refugees, including 97,600 Sudanese, 39,466 from DR Congo, 18,068 from Rwanda and about 12,000 from Kenya.Overall, over 250,000 refugees have returned to Sudan from various countries.

Pattern Fabric Family is most important to Evalean Howell.So, when her niece, Gail

McCullough, received a scholarship from the United Daughters of the Confederacy, she wanted

to do something to show her appreciation. But what?Her idea was to raise enough money for

the Pike County UDC to be able to purchase one of the matching-fund scholarships offered

through the United Daughters of the Confederacy to be given to a student at Troy

University."My idea was to make a quilt that could be raffled off to get the money

necessary for the match," Howell said. "I have made a lot of quilts and given some of them

to be used as fund raisers and they have raised a lot of money."Howell took three quilts

that she had made to the Pioneer Museum of Alabama and asked the quilters there to choose

the pattern for the scholarship quilt."Most members of the Pike County UDC are members of

my family - the Richards and Berrys," Howell said. "Our roots are deep in Pike County, and

I wanted the quilt to have complete ties to Pike County, so I wanted the quilters at the

museum to be a part of it."Howell made the quilt top, but for the quilt to be completed in

time for the opportunity to purchase a UDC matching fund scholarship, she needed help with

the quilting. Time was of the essence."I asked the quilters at the museum for their help,

and they agreed," she said. "And when we were finished, it was a beautiful quilt. A lot of

people wanted it, but only one name would be drawn."I call the quilt the Joy Quilt because

making it brought me so much joy. To think that it will help with a young person's

education is a joyful thought."The quilt was especially meaningful for members of the UDC

because it was made from reproduction fabric from the Civil War period. Some of the pattern

designs were also from that period.    When the quilt was raffled, it brought enough match

money to purchase a one-year tuition scholarship at Troy University.The scholarship will be

awarded in the 2008-09 school year.To qualify, a student must have documented proof as a

descendant of a Civil War veteran. The recipient of the scholarship will be determined by a

review committee, and grade-point average will be the determining factor if there are

several applicants."I've been asked if this scholarship is going to be a one-time thing,"

Howell said. "But if I can get the help I need with the quilting, I would really like to

make it an annual scholarship, because not only is the scholarship a help to some young

person, it's also a way to get more people involved in the UDC."The Pike County UDC has 11

members and several junior members."To become a member of the UDC, you need only to show

proof of being a descendant of a Civil War veteran," Howell said. "And it takes only one."

flat yarn Open end (OE) spinning mills in Tamil Nadu are in a tight spot as cotton wastes,

their principal raw material, go scarcer forcing them to curtail production.They are, like

the ring spinning mills, confronted with spiralling prices in cotton wastes amidst a surge

in their exports from India to countries in the Far-East and Europe.Apart from the rising

cost of virgin cotton (from which the wastes are obtained) which, in turn, pushed up the

waste cotton prices as well and decline in the spinning wastes availability, the spawning

OE rotor capacity has proved a drag on the industry. Added to these pressures is the bait

from the international trade that offers higher rate for waste cotton from India, say the

people connected with the OE spinning sector."The price of comber wastes, for example,

which remained in the Rs.35-36 band per kg till December 2007 have shot up by some 42% now

to Rs 52. Such high price has rendered spinning OE yarn unremunerative today", said Mr K.G.

Vijayakumar, Managing Director, The Kadri Mills (Cbe) Ltd. A member of the KG group and a

well-known player in the OE yarn market with production of 2.25 lakh kg a day, the company,

according to him, has brought down the OE yarn production by 60% to tide over costs.Mr

Vijayakumar felt the low availability of cotton wastes is due to restrained consumption of

virgin cotton by ring spinning units hit by higher overheads due to increased power and

labour costs.The shortage of waste cotton felt in a small way in 2003 kept rising along

side the growth witnessed in the number of OE units since then and, according to Mr J

Thulasidaran, Managing Director of The Rajarathina Mills Pvt Ltd, a major OE yarn

manufacturing unit in Coimbatore region, the multiplicity in the second-hand OE spinning

machines imported between 2004 and 2006 from the erstwhile Soviet bloc countries and East

Europe had added keg to waste cotton demand surge. The increased efficiency in minimising

short fibres in cotton achieved at the carding and combing stages leading to higher yarn

realisation and lower cotton wastage is attributed to low volume cotton waste generation by

the ring spinning unit.OE spinners use cotton wastes from the ring spinning mills coming as

the carding wastes (called flat strips) or comber wastes (comber noils) to produce coarser

yarns in the counts especially 6s, 14s, 16s that go to make home textiles or apparel

fabrics.Tamil Nadu houses a third of the country? OE spinning capacity of 5.2 lakh rotors

(2005-06) producing about 400 million kg out of 1000 million kg produced in the country.

Rajapalayam, Vellakoil and Coimbatore are the centres where OE units are concentrated in

the Sate.While no data are available on the volume of waste cotton consumed by mills or the

volume of shipment, the OE spinning industry blames the free export of waste cotton under

the open general licence allowed four years ago for the current crisis.Textile mills

especially those in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra which used to sell their surplus cotton

wastes to the units in Tamil Nadu now prefer to export them as they find the 1.30/1.40

dollar a kg realised on waste cotton export attractive. Another disincentive for the trade

in supplying waste cotton to the southern industry, according to Mr Ladha of Bombay Trading

Company, Kohlapur, a waste cotton dealer, is the heavy transportation cost.A truck load of

waste cotton transported from Kohlapur to a mill in Coimbatore today worked out Rs 17,000

and in case of a mill in Rajapalayam, it is further higher at Rs 21,000, he added. 

Spun Bond Two White County residents have moved part of an ongoing state-court lawsuit

alleging improprieties between the city of Searcy and Harding University to federal court

in Little Rock.The lawsuit that is now before U. S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright

focuses on the city’s issuance of “tens of millions of low-interest, taxexempt capital

improvement and refunding revenue bonds for the purpose of loaning the money raised from

the sale of those bonds to Harding.” The lawsuit claims that the loans stemming from the

bond issue have financed various capital improvements at the university, conferring a

direct economic benefit upon Harding.Because the university is a religion-based

institution, the arrangement that has been going on since 1991 is unconstitutional,

violating the plaintiffs ’ rights to separation of church and state under the

Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, the suit alleges.Another lawsuit, from which

the federal claims were excerpted, is ongoing in Searcy County Circuit Court and

encompasses many other issues, plaintiff’s attorney Marty Bowen of Little Rock said.Searcy

’s city attorney, Buck Gibson, refused to comment on either matter Thursday.“If it’s

pending litigation, I’m just not going to comment on it,” he said.The university’s

director of public relations, David Crouch, said Friday that he also didn’t want to

discuss details of ongoing litigation. But he said that the university “has acted

appropriately and within Arkansas and federal statutes governing the sale of these bonds,

and we’re confident that when the university’s position is presented in court, the

lawsuit will be deemed to have no merit.” The plaintiffs are Dennis Gillam, who lives on a

farm in White County, and Billy Pruitt of Searcy. Gillam is a former Craighead County judge

who in 2006 ran for county judge in White County and lost to Michael Lincoln during a

runoff.Bowen said the lawsuits came about after Gillam, shortly after losing the election,

spotted a small notice in a local newspaper saying that the county was going to reissue

revenue bonds for a joint project between White County Medical Center and Harding

University.Bowen, Gillam’s longtime friend, said Gillam soon hired him to find out why the

county would finance a project between the hospital and the university, a private school,

and a lawsuit grew out of that investigation. The suit, f iled about 18 months ago in

Craighead County, has now spun off a federal component, Bowen said. He said he decided to

separate some of the issues into a federal case and drop them from the state case, because

they involve matters of U. S. constitutional law. The federal suit also names as defendants

Searcy Mayor Belinda LaForce and the Public Educational and Residential Housing Facilities

Board.The suit describes the university as “a pervasively sectarian institution that

imposes religious restrictions on student admissions and faculty and staff appointments,

enforces obedience to its religious dogma, requires Bible study and attendance at chapel as

an integral part of its religious mission, and places religious limitations on how and what

the faculty teach.” Crouch took issue with some of that wording, pointing out that while

all faculty members must belong to the Church of Christ, the student body consists of “a

large number of other faiths.” Bowen said he doesn’t “have a problem with religion,”

but, “I’m a fan of the Constitution. The city has no business loaning money to Harding

University so Harding can continue its Christian mission.” 

Sateen Fabric From eco-friendly certified organic bedding to a new hospitality line from

sleepwear designer Eileen West, luxury bedding manufacturer United Feather & Down will

debut several new products during this year's HD 2008 Expo & Conference in the Sands

Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV, May 15-17, 2008.Editors are invited to stop by booth 426

to see the company's new product offerings, including:    * Prestige Naturals? Organics,

New Hospitality Line Of Eco-Friendly Bedding:United Feather & Down is introducing the new

Prestige Naturals? line for hospitality at this year's show. Inspired by nature, the

Prestige Naturals line offers pillows, comforters, blankets and mattress pads in 300-

thread-count certified organic cotton sateen fabric filled with either 600 fill power,

Freshness Assured? down or the company's Consumers Digest award-winning Lyocell Down?.

Every piece is machine washable, a critical feature for the hospitality environment.    *

The Eileen West Hospitality Collection: Designer Eileen West takes her home collection to

the hospitality sector. The bed and bath collection is inspired by the sea, breathtaking

Pacific coastlines and ever-shifting coastal light. The nautical theme is evident

throughout the collection with fine cable embroideries perfectly coordinated to a cozy

cable bed scarf. Sophisticated yet simple and classic it is a perfect fit for hospitality

with just the right accent of color. The new bedding collection features tailored duvet

covers, sheets, shams and bed scarves. Eileen West offers these items in crisp whites and

stately blues; each piece elegantly captured with her signature quality and luxury design.

The collection can be celebrated for its fine fabrics, pin tucking, exquisite hem

stitching, embroideries and flawless craftsmanship. It is offered in four color options,

including classic white on white, blue, gold and silver. The Eileen West Hospitality

collection is in perfect synergy with the timeless elegance the Eileen West brand is known

for.Booth attendees at this year's show can enter to win the new Eileen West hospitality

bedding from United Feather & Down and a premium mattress set from Select Comfort?."From

the tailored style of Eileen West to bedding catering to the all-natural, organic

lifestyle, we're looking forward to showing a variety of innovative, comfortable and

beautiful bedding to re-energize the hospitality guests' experience," said United Feather &

Down co-president Stephen Palmer. "Our new collections will bring a fresh feel to any hotel

room, and are sure to please the most discriminating guests."Freshness Assured? DownMore

than 200 years of experience ensures that United Feather & Down's signature Freshness

Assured process continues to set the industry standard for quality and cleanliness. The

intensive, 15-step process involves selecting, grading and sorting the finest quality down

and feathers, subjecting them to multiple washing and rinsing cycles to ensure they're

meticulously clean and truly hypoallergenic, and carefully drying, cooling and ozonating

them to eliminate any remaining impurities. Laboratory testing occurs throughout the entire

process - from the time down and feathers are harvested to the point it becomes part of the

finished good - to ensure United Feather & Down's products contain the cleanest and

freshest down and feathers possible. If down is not cleaned properly, contaminants like

dirt and dust can lead to allergenic reactions, which is why the Freshness Assured

guarantee is so important.The Freshness Assured process has always been an environmentally

friendly procedure from beginning to end, as the water used is thoroughly filtered before

re-entering the city system.