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People with AIDS
unite
By Kimberly Pasquis
On-line Forty-Niner
In the year 2000,
36.1 million people worldwide were said to be living with
HIV or AIDS, nine out of 10 of those people did not know that
they were infected.
In order to spread awareness about the disease, World AIDS
Day, recognized on Dec. 1, was created to bring messages of
understanding about AIDS. World AIDS Day will be celebrated
on campus Friday.
The social work department and the student organization Jane
Adams Committee, a group stemming from the social work department,
are hosting the all-day event. From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. free
condoms, lubricants and dental dams will be distributed and
free HIV/AIDS screening will be performed.
A mobile testing unit will be set up in front of the Peterson
Hall buildings on upper campus. The testing is confidential
and will be performed with a test using the tissue of the
inner cheek, rather than with a blood test.
"It is not only about promoting health but about individual
responsibility and growing the level of awareness in the community,"
said Shannon Fil, social work master's student and chairperson
for the Jane Adams Committee.
According to Fil, the rate of infected young people is increasing.
Half of newly-infected people are under the age of 25.
Program Council and Planet Graphx are helping sponsor the
event.
"We are known as the generation that loves to have sex,"
said Tyrone Robinson, a graduate student in counseling and
program assistant for Program Council who has been helping
with the coordination. "Many people are sexually active
and do not know that they are spreading [the disease] to other
people."
Those not able to attend the festivities on campus can partake
in events in the city of Long Beach. The Gay and Lesbian Center
of Long Beach will host an event at Bixby Park on Saturday.
Outdoor activities and speakers are part of that event. Mary
Vigil, founder of A League of Their Own, an organization for
women living with AIDS, is one of the scheduled speakers.
A portion of the AIDS quilt will be on display.
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