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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 22, 1993)
\ Opinion rV Monday, March 22,1993 The Battalion —-.f ». .f Page 9 Should the 10-minute AIDS test be implemented as standard procedure? Because of the rapidly increasing number of report ed AIDS cases in the United States, the proposed 10- minute AIDS test is a good idea. Based on the speed with which results can be obtained, this test will encourage many people to get tested for HIV who otherwise may not have been tested. The World Health Organiza tion has estimated that over 10 million people in the world have AIDS. Since the first case of AIDS was reported in 1981, there have been over 230,179 cases of AIDS in the United States, according to the Center for Dis ease Control (CDC). Texas is ranked fourth for having the highest number of Alf3^dasbs. A little doser to hom£, Dallafs'Is ranked 12th and Houston is ranked fourth as having the nation's highest number of reported AIDS cases according to the Oaklawn Community Services. To combat the spread of AIDS, the government has been providing AIDS tests. The first test, the Elisa, screens the blood to check for HIV antibodies. If the test is positive, then a more intensive test called the Western Blot test is performed. If the Western Blot test is positive, then the person is considered to have the HIV virus which may lead to AIDS. If the per son tests negative to these tests, then no HIV antibodies have been found. How ever, these tests may not detect the AIDS virus for six to eight weeks from the time of exposure. The Elisa test takes from one week to 10 days for results. Health officials say this delay discourages some people from taking the test. If a person who is infect ed with AIDS waits to take the test, then he or she may risk giving the AIDS virus to someone else. The delay also prevents the person from obtaining the proper medical care needed to combat the AIDS virus. This delay needs to be minimized so that more people will agree to be test ed. Last year, a new AIDS test was ap proved by the federal government. This new test is similar to the Elisa test, but takes only 10 minutes to get the results instead of one week. The Dallas County Health Department was selected by the CDC to be the first agency to run the trial AIDS test. However, just because the test results will only take 10 minutes to obtain does not mean that the people can avoid getting the necessary AIDS counseling. The Dallas County Health Department has said that they will counsel people be fore and after each AIDS test is per formed. The reduction in waiting time will not only increase the number of people who take the test, but will also ease some of the stress related to the waiting time. As one volunteer at Oaklawn Community Services said, "When a person is waiting for the test results, it is as if their life is on hold; so by cutting the waiting time, you cut out a lot of the stress of the un known." The new 10- minute AIDS test could possibly en danger lives rather than save them by luring people into a false sense of se curity and by sac rificing safety for the sake of expedi ence. Currently, the AIDS test takes an average one to two weeks to obtain the results. During that time, the per son who wishes to be tested under goes intensive pre-test and post-test counseling on HIV awareness and pre vention. In addition, patients are given a risk assessment and are confronted with questions about how they will react to an HIV-positive test result. Patients are asked to consider the real possibility that they may have HIV and are then given information on early intervention and support services. The pre-test and post test counseling usually last around 30 minutes each. Though the new "McTest" promises to encourage more people to be tested based on its quick returns, one wonders whether the 10-minute test can offer com parable counseling in a shorter amount of time. Any procedure based on the bene fits of expediency can't possibly cover the extent of information discussed through current testing practices. The quickie test would obviously lose its appeal to the one-stop shopping contingent if an addi tional chunk of time were tacked on for discussion and meditation. In addition, the quickie test has a high possibility of returning both false posi tives and false negatives. Current testing practices are almost fail safe: When the blood sample is in the lab, it is subjected twice to the Elisa test in the event of an initial positive. If the second Elisa test is positive, the sample is then immediately given a Western Blot test. These three tests could not be performed during the 10-minute "McTest" and therefore would not be as reliable as the current one to two week process. Reliability raises another deadly issue. There is a distinct possibility that a pa tient could panic after receiving a false positive from the 10-minute test. People have been known to commit suicide after receiving HIV-positive results from their tests. Imagine the consequences in the case of a false positive. More dangerous is the possibility of the false sense of se curity that a false negative could bring. Though high-risk behavior is deadly in any circumstance, an HIV-positive person could continue engaging in that behavior after receiving a false negative and could endanger countless other lives. In addition, the time element involved in the current test provides a hidden ben efit. The week spent sweating out the test results is a painful week of uncertain ty that is more of a scare tactic than any HIV/AIDS awareness program. It's an experience that can't be conveyed in 10 minutes. The questionable reliability of the new quickie "McTest" and the sacri fices made for its cherished expediency will probably hurt more than it can help. STACY FEDUCIA Opinion Editor Holder is a senior journalism major. Feducia is a senior English major. Editonab appearing in The Battalion reflect the views of the editorial board only. They do not necessarily reflect the opnions of other Battalion staff members, the Texas A&M student body, regents, administration, faculty or staff. Columns, guest columns, and Mail CaS items express the opinions of the authors only. The Battalion encourages letters to the edior and w9 print as many as space allows in the Mcri CaS section. Letters must be 300 words or less and include the author's name, doss, and phone number. Due to space restrictions, guest columns wS not be accepted unless the author contacts the opinion page for prior approval before submitting columns. We reserve the right to edit letters for length, style, and accuracy. Letters should be addressed to: The Battalion - Moil Call OT 3 Reed McDonald /Mai stop 1111 Texas A&M University Coiege Station, TX 77843 As if I had nothing better to do... A journey deep inside the bowels of the Quack Shack Spring is in the air, which means it's also in the nasal passages. While spring is the season of love, it's also the season of pollen. And for aller gy sufferers like myself, spring means hay fever. When blossoms start to rise, so does my temperature. And it never fails, there are always two mid-terms the very week you fall ill. So in order to keep from lapsing into pneumonia while you're cramming for that chem test, you have to see the doctor. At Texas A&M, that means visiting the A.R Beutel Health Center, affection ately known as the "Quack Shack." The Shack is an intriguing place, to say the least. I entered the premises hoping to re ceive reasonably efficient treatment for my routine cold. At the front desk, the kind woman told me to fill out a form inquiring about my name, age, medical history, blood type, major credit card number and any prior arrests. "Thank you," the kind woman said. "Please have a seat in the waiting room. It won't be but a moment." The people packed into the many Quack Shack waiting rooms had illnesses ranging from ingrown toenails to malaria. But each seemed to be waiting patiently for his or her turn to receive the best medical care. So I sat down next to a fellow cold victim who looked as if he would lapse into a coma at any moment. He was fascinated by the overhead television which was showing "The Price Is Right." Ethel, the portly waitress from Tulsa, was just about to win the dinette set in the Clock Game when... "Whitley, Chris?" called a student worker with file in hand. "Yes." "Right this way." Not too bad, I thought. I've only been waiting five minutes and already they're taking care of me. Talk about service. We walked down the hall to another waiting room where a crowd of people were lying in agony. "Just wait right here, and we'll be with you in one mo ment." One moment lasted about 30 minutes, and this time there was no television set. "Whitley, Chris?" called the nurse. "Yes." "Right this way." The nurse took me to a literal hole in the wall to find out more about my symptoms. Have I had a fever? Have I been coughing? Have I had headaches, dizziness, nausea, asthma, arthritis or inflamed genitals? She told me that my symptoms pointed to an upper respira tory infection, an important-sounding term for a cold. Then, she instructed me to go back in the waiting room and wait for a real doctor to see me. If there is a hell, it must be a waiting room. All you can do is sit. Of course, you can entertain yourself by perusing the pages of a 1977 Modem Health magazine or a pamphlet de scribing 10 tips to prevent you from getting the disease you're already sick with. As the hours passed, I'm was tempted to ask if they have an extra sleeping bag when... "Whitley, Chris?" What are they, dyslexic? "Yes." "Right this way." A different nurse took me down the hall and around the corner past several doctors' offices to — you guessed it — an other waiting room. It's incredible how you come in feeling sick, but by the time you spend all day being shuffled around waiting rooms, you either get well or die. I felt like I was about to have a stroke, and all I had was a cold. Imagine if someone who was seriously ill had to go through this. They'd only live to see two waiting rooms. The lights were starting to fade, and I could feel myself gasping for my last breath when... "Whitley, Chris?" "YES!!" "Please come in." It was my doctor. A real M.D. No nurse. No student work er. No overpaid bureaucrat. It was a real, honest-to-goodness physician. I told her about all my symptoms, how I was near collapse, and how I was fearing the worst until I finally made it into her office. "So what do you think. Doc? What's wrong with me?" "You have a cold. Take this prescription downstairs." On the verge of breakdown, I descended to the basement where I found yet another group of people waiting for their magic potions to be delivered. They were waiting to enter these little booths at the edge of the pharmacy. One by one, students entered into the booths when called and walked out carrying drugs. What's the big secret? Are these people get ting penicillin or crack? "Whitley, Chris.. .Booth one, please." Fearing that I might be caught in a drug bust, I crept in and found the pharmacist there with my medicine. It took two hours, four waiting rooms and treatment from a staff of thou sands, but I got my medicine, and I got well. So all in all, the Quack Shack is not a bad place to go when you're a patient. But it is when you're impatient. Whitley is a junior journalism major. CHRIS WHITLEY Columnist & Now is not the time xor U.S. ittiliLwy intervention in Bosnia.. with the bulk of our forces tied up by a relidiouS cult in Texas REPUBLICS Knowing when to say when with beer I am writing in response to Mark Magee's letter about college drinking on March 9. First of all, if he thinks that Texas A&M is the only school which la bels itself the "Beer drinking capital of the world," he is sadly mistaken. I have attended UT at Austin and Stephen F. Austin State University, and both of those schools - at least certain people in those schools - boast of the same "drinking capital" title. Probably the only schools which don't jokingly brag about their drinking are Ivy League schools. Secondly, drinking only on the week ends, sobering up on Sunday and getting back to business by Sunday night doesn't necessarily damage grades and deter from making lifetime friends and com mitments during college. The secret is knowing w\hen to party and when to study. I have met many friends over a beer and have made lifetime commit ments at school during the week. Magee's argument weakens when he only discusses drinking on th§^weekends. I would agree that when one moves drinking outside of the weekends, one's college career is placed in jeopardy. Finally, I think Magee left otit one very important item on his list of what college is supposed to be about, and that item is fun. Maybe it's low on the list, but I still think fun should be included. After alb these are the best years of our lives. Jeff Whitney Class of '94 Some clarifications on military contracts This letter is in response to 2nd Lt. Michael Buck's letter printed in the March 9 Battalion. As a captain in the Army Reserves, I feel that some of his "truths" need to be enlightened. First of all, no one made Buck sign a contract and nothing, not even his con tract, is keeping him in the National Guard. If Buck does not wish to remain in the Guard, he should resign his com mission, but he should not distort reality. Buck mentioned that a cadet would re ceive $1800 in the form of a loan, instead of a grant, if the cadet does not sign a contract. There's a big difference between these two types of financial aid. A loan must be paid back with interest accrued; a grant is free money. Additionally Buck stated that an offi cer can lose up to 30 days of active duty pay if equipment is lost. He also men tioned that accountability is difficult. This is true, but that is why officers make the "big bucks": to ensure that our na tion's tax dollars are accounted for. Good officers make the system work by teach ing equipment discipline. Finally, regarding annual training, the Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen Act is a fed eral law requiring civilian employers to give time for this training. This is non- paid leave for service, not paid vacation tiffte, and Buck should let his employer kfiow about this legislation. To those cadets who are considering a contract, a career in the military is a great way to serve this country, learn responsi bility and practice leadership. For those individuals with dedication and forti tude, serving the military has life long re wards. Robert K. Fogtman Graduate Student x/A'-i'-yc.