UH events mark AIDS Day
Events held around
campus today inform the community about AIDS.
Arthur Rendon
News Reporter
The Wellness Center at the University of
Houston understands that the fall semester is ending, but the fight to
find a cure for AIDS remains constant.
Responsible for ending nearly half a million
lives since 1983, the epidemic is recognized on Dec. 1 of every year during
World AIDS Day.
Workers at the Wellness Center are hoping
to educate students, faculty and staff and increase their awareness about
the disease's prevalence in the community.
"Students need to understand that someone
with HIV/AIDS looks just like their best friend standing right next to
them," said Wellness Center Director Gail Hudson-Gillan.
Counselors and assistants at the center
are distributing 10,000 red ribbons to the departments on campus to help
increase awareness. Events will also be held throughout the day so students,
faculty and staff can learn more about the disease.
"We want to educate and let everyone know
that this is an equal opportunity virus that affects us all," Hudson-Gillan
said.
Two panels of a quilt representing those
who have died will be displayed at the University Center Arbor. Information
about the disease and prevention will be given at the UC Arbor and at the
Satellite.
"The development of certain drugs has done
an incredible job extending the lives of those who have been infected,
but people have now become complacent," said Melissa Smith, graduate assistant
at the Wellness Center.
The Catholic Newman Center is conducting
a mass at noon today, for those wishing to acknowledge people who have
lost their lives to the disease.
"I think that everyone knows of someone
who has died of AIDS, whether it's a family member, co-worker, friend,
or friend of a friend," senior communications major Lauren Nagel said.
UH has offered several prevention seminars
to those living in the University's residence halls and have been proactive
in dealing with AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
"Our university has been involved with
the battle against AIDS, since the late '80s," Hudson-Gillan said.
The Center for Disease Control has also
followed the course of AIDS since its beginning and confirmed the rate
of infection has continued to rise.
In 1983, the number of cases started at
1,000 and is now at approximately 730,000.
Free HIV testing will be held at the Student
Health Center between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. today.
"People are better off if they can get
diagnosed early and begin to receive treatment while in the early stages,"
Hudson-Gillan said.
A guest speaker will be talking to students
at the UC and the names of those who have died will be read at 10 a.m.
