University of Houston - Houstonian Yearbook (Houston, TX)

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Unpleasant As It Is: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome ed among only 75 college students, the actual number is expected to be higher. Because the incubation period for the disease is from three months to five years, there will be many more cases surfacing. The bottom line is that a casual occur-ance which required little thought, may become a fatal mistake. But still the ignorance exists among college students. Fraternities across the nation have been known to ridicule the AIDS disease for a party theme. Most white middle class Americans have the attitude that their sexual practices are invincible. They tend to believe that their partner, no matter how casual or committed, could not possible carry a sexually transmitted disease. Ironically, many of these people who feel secure around others of their own stereotype, share outrageous myths about ways of contracting the disease. Some falsely believe the disease can be passed on by being in the presence of a person with AIDS. And some falsely believe they will get AIDS if they touch a homosexual. While others have even more ridiculous notions about the disease. The truth of the matter is that the virus which causes AIDS is spread from one person's blood or body fluid to that of another. It is not transmitted through the air, nor can the virus live on any dry surface, including healthy skin. It is primarily spread through sexual contact of any kind, or through intravenous drug use. It is not like many other diseases or unplanned pregnancy, however. A person can carry the virus for an undetermined amount of time, and continue to pass it on, undetected. — Mark Lacy Intravenous drug users arc among the high risk groups that make up 91 percent of the 36,000 reported AIDS cases, along with male homosexuals and bisexuals. But AIDS can strike people of all races, males and females, young and old, and even children. It is estimated that 15 million people in the U.S. carry the virus. Because of the scare, some people are ordering a straw with their drink when they go out. While there are many myths about AIDS, it is nor a myth that heterosexuals can contract the disease the same as people in high risk groups. Four percent of 36.000 reported AIDS cases arc heterosexuals. That number is expected to increase drastically over the next 10-15 years. Some facts about AIDS as we understand them. They are not 100 percent conclusive. • There is not a test for AIDS. There is a test to determine if a person has been infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) sometime in the past. It is estimated that 25-50 percent of persons infected with the HIV will dcvelopc AIDS, and an additional 25-30 percent will develope a less severe illness. It is uncertain why some infected with the HIV will develope AIDS and some will not. • Pregnant women who are infected with the HIV may pass the virus on to their unborn children. • Once infected, the virus may persist in the blood and body fluids, and can be passed on, for many years and possibly for life. • A person cannot contract AIDS by donating blood. • A person can develope AIDS even five years or more after being exposed to the virus. • The virus can be passed from female to male during intercourse, though it is more commonly passed from male to female or male to male. • In five years, health officials estimate that 270,000 Americans will have AIDS, an almost certain death for many of them. • There are no known drugs that will cure AIDS. While many universities and public schools are taking on the responsibility of sex education, some radical groups Continue to spread myths about the

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AIDS continues to be a Critical topic, such as on Channel 2'$ Evening News with Anchorman Ron Stone, along with other local and national news programs. But a large saturation of problems in the world today seems to have dulled the viewing public's senses. To many. AIDS is just another foreign crisis. AIDS Else 5 Aids is rapidly becoming the biggest threat to our planet, taking the lead in a neck and neck race with topics such as nuclear war and the ozone layer. While world leaders with a killing power 100 times over are able to discuss controlling nuclear weapons. AIDS is a much more abstract killer. Nuclear weapons have quantities and capabilities and are manufactured making them negotiable (even in theory). AIDS has become the great equalizer. No country desires it, nor can stop Someone Problem? its spread. Even countries like the Soviet Union, where controls are tight, arc stepping forward and admitting to a wide spread AIDS problem. Scientists believe that one out of every thirty males in the U.S. carries the disease, or its virus, making containment out of the question and a desperately needed vaccine the only answer. While ignorance of the situation can be found nearly everywhere, one has to wonder how politics may play a part in the race to find a cure. The AIDS virus was formally discovered in 1983- But it can be traced to deaths occuring before 1981. The number of cases has escalated yearly since then. By the end of the 1986-87 school year, the AIDS virus has accounted for nearly 21,000 deaths in the U.S. in seven years. The first International AIDS Conference didn't occur until 1985 in Atlanta. Georgia. In June of 1987. there was still ignorance of the disease at the Third International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C. — an ignorance that will only continue to inflate controversy. Vice President George Bush was heckled as he read a list of the President s proposed safety measures to prevent the spread of AIDS in the U.S., a list that included mandatory testing for all immigrants into the country. He turned, believing that the microphone was off, and said, Who was that, some gay group out there? . A very elitist attitude tends to surface in serious discussions about AIDS, but the 6,000 scientists present at the convention didn't find the plan to contain the disease, while overlooking the real need for a cure, to be very funny. Many social economic groups have the misconception that AIDS is something for other types of people to be concerned about. College students are guilty of this belief. While AIDS has been report-

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Something To Be Concerned About It‘s more than the average student with a job wired on caffine during finals. It's more serious than a man selling marijuana at a rock concert. The kids in the disco think it's cool. It begins from social pressure — they often become addicted. It happens to someone we all know but don't like to talk about, in the closet again, using XTC (or X”), cocaine and crack. Recreational drugs which can be lethal. 26