Sections

AIDS is still a campus issue

National Condom Week, February 12-17, is dedicated to protecting students against AIDS by encouraging condom use and other safer sex alternatives. The focus of the week of AIDS education is to personalize the issue for students, especially those involved in sexual relationships.

Throughout the week, students from AIDS Education Issues Among Us, AIDS Awareness Group and UHS peer educators will be distributing condoms in the Diag, residence halls and various University building with the theme of safer sex this Valentine's Day. The message is simple -- show your loved one that you care about their safety by using a latex barrier during sex. AIDS should not be an afterthought; a disease that is now the No. 1 killer for people between the ages of 25-44 magnifies the risks of unprotected sex.

While the message of AIDS Awareness has increased among the public and the media in recent years, so has the spread of HIV. Ryan White, Arthur Ashe, Magic Johnson, Greg Louganis and other HIV-positive celebrities heightened the visibility of AIDS in the public mainstream. As AIDS emerged at the forefront of national health issues, Magic Johnson sent a wake-up call to the American public -- no one is immune to HIV.

More students today are familiar with the term AIDS, and demonstrate their support for the issue and those affected by wearing the symbolic red ribbon. Is something lost in the symbol? As visible signs of awareness increase on college campuses, AIDS continues to rise at the fastest rate among men and women ages 18-24. Familiarity with issues of AIDS should not be mistaken for knowledge. Information alone is not enough to combat this deadly disease in our community. AIDS education is an evolving process; new forms of protection, testing, and available treatments are continually being discovered.

Addressing AIDS in open forums, where questions, fears and information are discussed, is an effective way to reach students on this campus. A statistic helps one visualize the magnitude and seriousness of AIDS, but it does not provide the impetus to change sexual behaviors.

Today, a young woman living with AIDS will be speaking out at the University. River Huston, a renowned poet and AIDS activist, contracted AIDS in 1991, while attending Hunter College in New York. Her compelling story has the potential to positively impact students' lives. River went to have an HIV test, confident that there was no chance of her testing HIV positive. Four years later, she is living with AIDS. Huston is the changing face of AIDS in our community. She is young and active and does not look like someone who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Huston knew very little about AIDS when she was told she had it. She now shares her story to prevent it from happening to someone else.

We are not winning the battle against AIDS. Many students at the University still don't protect themselves. Washtenaw County has the second highest number of AIDS cases in the state. College students, especially women, comprise the largest group facing the highest growing risks of contracting HIV. We must confront this disease with openness and candid discussion in order to gain knowledge of AIDS.

River Huston's voice echoes the hopes and fears of AIDS in our community. Her positive message will be shared at 8:30 p.m. tonight at the U-Club. This is an opportunity to begin a dialogue on an issue facing college students today.