UA Students Focusing on the AIDS Pandemic

Students throughout the UA are organizing a week of events to draw attention to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

University of Arizona students from multiple colleges and programs are joining with numerous Tucson partners to host a week of events surrounding World AIDS Day.

The World Health Organization reports that an estimated 33 million people in the world were living with HIV. And in 2007, about 2 million people died from AIDS.

The organization reports that in the United States, about 1.2 million people are living with HIV and that about 22,000 died from AIDS last year.

Andrew Larson, who chaired the UA's World AIDS Week Committee, said that while those figures may be daunting, there is a continued need to empower people with information about HIV/AIDS.

"I think the crucial distinguishing characteristic is that there is a significant amount of stigma associated with this disease. We need to dispel myths about it and encourage people to talk about it," said Larson, also a second-year UA medical student.

"The focus should not be so much on the blame as much as the emphasis on personal responsibility and compassion," Larson added. "I think if we changed how we perceive this disease we could see a reduction in infections because people would be more informed."

Hence the need for a campus-wide, community-minded effort.

"We tried to reach out to the campus community and as many different colleges and students as possible," Larson said, adding that advocates and educators are critical to the cause.

"To get rid of the disease requires not only physicians, but health care professionals, pharmacists, nurses and public health specialists."

Hence the collaboration with Tucson partners and main campus affiliates.

"One of the things that the WRC tries to emphasize is sexual health," said Jai Smith, a health and sexuality intern with the Women's Resource Center, or WRC.

"Since World AIDS Day is bringing awareness to HIV, we decided to work on it," Smith added.

The week’s events are:

December 1

• The World AIDS Week Committee at the UA will showcase a project, “A Day Without Art.” The project is recognized nationally after having begun in 1989 to honor artists who had died because of AIDS. Thousands of arts galleries across the nation, including sites at the Arizona Health Sciences Library and College of Medicine, will cover up artwork in a project meant to draw awareness to the pandemic.
• The Student Health Advisory Committee will showcase an AIDS quilt on the UA Mall from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• A lunch talk will be held at the UA College of Medicine, in Room 2117. The talk, “Personal Stories – How AIDS Affects Me,” will be held from noon to 1 p.m. and lunch will be provided.
• Beginning at 6 p.m., a candlelight vigil will be held at the fountain located west of Old Main. UA and Tucson community members are encouraged to share poetry, songs and personal stories. The Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network is partnering with students to hold the vigil.
• “SECS: HIV 101” is a sexual education workshop that will be centered on HIV. The training, presented by the Associated Students of The University of Arizona center, will cover topics related to sexual responsibility and safe sex. The event will be held at 7 p.m. in the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership, located on the fourth floor of the Student Union Memorial Center.

December 2

• “Notes from the Field: Perspectives from Field Based Work on HIV/AIDS,” is a talk that will be held at noon at the UA’s Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. The event will be held in Room A112 of Drachman Hall and lunch will be provided.

December 3

• “Intimate Experiences Living with HIV,” a lunch talk, will be held in Room 140 of the Integrated Learning Center. The event will begin at 1 p.m.
• The Women’s Resource Center has collaborated to offer free HIV testing. The center’s partners are the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation, Pima Country Health Department, Student Health Advisory Committee, AIDS SAFE, the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership, the Social Justice Leadership Center and World AIDS Week. A nurse practitioner will be doing finger pricks for the testing and two trained counselors also will attend. Confidentiality will be maintained. The testing will be held from noon to 3 p.m. in the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership. Testing is by appointment only. To learn more, or to RSVP, contact Jai Smith at jais@email.arizona.edu.

December 4

• “The Good, The Bad, and the Controversies,” a lunch talk,” will be held at noon in Room 470 of the UA College of Nursing. Lunch will be provided.

December 5

• “Compassionate Care: Treating HIV in Tucson,” a lunch talk, will be held at noon in Room 3117 of the UA’s College of Medicine. Lunch will be provided.