uarySjJ Aggielife Fuesday, February 8,1994 The Battalion Page 3 P ^ refcl :esman, ainl Little glory to be found in the trenches : ttoatt(f onfider; o an orf rs a swer go was;, affidav n isdejii iled cop- dent pr. betweerJ 'as app;;; pingdia said. "II; | edbj'a^ itherat ttornev ^■client p ngther; nd 2 after« eedcutte ■ee burp, rlusaiu: ated ass Diplom;' o becc: tain i 1 imit crir Behind the scenes workers devote life to HIV battle By Kyle Burnett The Battalion A IDS Awareness Week is into full swing and the attention is mostly focused on the disease and its victims. During this week, as throughout the year, little of the limelight falls on the numerous individuals who devote a great portion of their life to fighting a seemingly endless war. Reasons they became involved From career educators to part-time volunteers, the motivation for becoming active in the fight against HIV varies. Mary Sue Rabe, a facilitator for United Involved Community Action Network (U & I CAN), was instrumental in the advertising and coordination of AIDS Awareness Week. She joined the fight after the loss of a close friend to the virus. "I grew up in Bryan and I moved away for 20 some odd years," Rabe said. "A real good friend of mine died of AIDS. The only medication he was given was a painkiller, but it still was a painful death. That is why I am such an advocate. No one deserves to die that way." Genevieve Davis, Class of '93, has a long history of volunteer work for special causes. Davis is the volunteer coordinator at Special Health Services, which will contribute this week with HIV testing and counseling. "I heard about (Special Health Services) from a friend," she said. "I began as a volunteer and was later hired full time." Diane Santos, an HIV counselor with Planned Parenthood, a local Awareness Week sponsor, said she became involved with the issue after years of employment at the agency. "I have worked with Planned Parenthood for 14 years doing a lot of different things," Santos said. "I find this is an extremely important issue and I love what I do." Obstacles to overcome In any issue you are going to run into people who don't believe it is a problem, said Stacey Garner, health educator at A.P. Beutel Health Education Center. And, Davis said, people not believing is a huge problem. "There is a lot of denial," Davis said. "When you're in a small town, people still have the image of AIDS being a big city problem. But if you are sexually active in a small town, and someone there has AIDS, your chances of contracting HIV is much greater." Rabe said that some people believe the problem exists, but it has nothing to do with them. "People believe 'This isn't relevant to Kyle Burnett/THE Battalion me/" she said. "That is not true. Look at the crime rate, insurance and social security. It is going to affect you." Garner agreed with this but added that college students don't believe they could catch HIV. "The biggest problems working with college students is they do not believe that they are at risk," she said. "But they are finally beginning to listen. And they are just beginning to change their behavior." Santos said that a college environment plays host to an additional problem. "With college students, alcohol is the big risk factor and the decision making process begins to be altered," she said. Another problem common to college campuses is communication about unprotected sex. "What I see as being a big stumbling block is it is a sexually transmitted disease," Rabe said. "People do not want to talk about it or they do not want you talking to their kids about it. AIDS is forcing us to talk about the things we don't want to — sex and death. Everybody is doing it but people just won't to talk about." But, Rabe said, HIV does not discriminate. Its victims may be homosexual, heterosexual, male or female. "Only in America has HIV been viewed as a homosexual disease," she said. "We have had a real hard time changing people's thoughts about this. It is running rampant in women and they don't even know it." Originally, the national Center for Disease Control classified a T cell count of 200 or under as full-blown AIDS. Rabe said these standards were set up for gay males and women don't always meet those criteria because the disease affects them differently. Cervical cancer results from HIV and women die of that long before AIDS takes over. Often there are barriers to getting that message across, though. For example, Davis said political pressure exists around education programs. "I think it is local a lot of times," she said. "If there was a national established program, it would override the local authorities." Rabe said political pressure exist because of the delicate subject matter. "No one wants to upset anyone," she said. See Trenches/Page 4 r J^st Chance to Order The ’94 Aggieland Nation’s Largest Yearbook • 864 Pages • Awesome Design, Copy & Photography AL) ■ editor editor ;ditor hotoe# xtion^ 1 ’ • ( James ft , MeW uezad a serf’ sprii 1 ! iiheH Mond J r yeat- Senior rrol> ROth'r, l Htb Pond on tkrir GVas & occaW \v\nv \oVS to uV_ mg O rdering YOUR A&M yearbook is easy. Just stop by the Student Publications bn ‘ office, room 230 Reed McDonald. The ness cost is only $25, plus tax. Cash, check, university billing, MasterCard, Discover and VISA are accepted. After Febru- ary 28, 1994, the price will increase to $30. T he book will be delivered in October 1994, and the pages will be full of color, excitement and you and your friends. Order today! Miflrafe t-V/Av'' vra ^ 0 "- v-s, i nor rr.. F — * . lymbolir tr,l. .bro^b c-fn.. "'P 1 ’-"' Walk rymbolitf. tbrir final dnyi tojftbcr brfbrt graduation. M sWv' vYtc c\c*A^ms. Rumors SWfc uems such as ctcam, peanut VmttCT and othet messy condiments. \n 'ON the Traditions Councii and the Oass oi 'BS ofticcts had an ahexnative to “shooting the seniors. K "pu\\-out' yc\\ practice was hc\d at honhre site and \cd hy the \uniot yc\\ ieaders. Mter ye\\ practice, VranV. Cox, Oass ot '6*) and author of w \ hiecd Maroon" spohe about the importance of preserving the soiemn tradition of f:\cphaut Wa\V. “The speaker was ^rcat because he tot everyone fired up about traditions Vtitc hAcphant WaWs, and the same time expiained to us why wc need to preserve these traditions hy cicanin^ them up a t c n\ r’oa .i b\C Nr\an hot mans, Oass of ' c ) c ), said. . t ^..cauds of Class of vA students, -r~t c v. t • ... i nousa V ne reason for the afternatwc actwutcs m W,cVc C. 94 .coorosccA « *cy v»T\A»Y«m on c*u V «s » » rcufr of , oaW cA 'W canrvuv ^^vmo^Sc cnA ^ in lW ,o V ,V«c fo, vVc 0 f cfieft Aay» atTcxi, N6tM. \ficv foo< TW^mn^gune. yc »„ of W vroik. Ac ,cn\oc, \»'A . TVc nce4 from no, vrammg co iVrcm,c\vcs lo xcct. iu\r\ v\rc cam^o,. anA from Arc Acmtc io “T\r»nks co a\\ rkosc \nvo\vcA \n preserve Arc rraAruon as a so\cmn organorrrg\t. Arc Oass of 's Y\cp\ranr riccl „ Dn ,- TtaAmonr CouncW mcoArcr <«/a\V via, an cnyoyaWc cr'ry A own Knsrcn Ncvrus. Qars of, sarA. memory \anc, nor ro menrron Wmga\or yucnAs. acrrvfrics, cvenrs anA \&t.SVs c\cancr rVran fn rVrc pasr. \ ancc many rraArfrons formeA r\rc srrongVronA C.Yv'AArcsr. C\a« of -c )4, sarA. rfrar onrrcA rfre Oass of ’'fA \n rVrcrr N cVrerrsYicA rraAnron ar N&tM, Ucyfrani pa t »Ac across camyus. tXcpYvanr r^aWr was a sycc\a\ Arne for a\\ senrots. \yjj\V gave sensors one more memory ro anAcrcA arounA camyor u Ve w\Ar Arem mro Are“rea\ wor\A. moornfrA e\ey\ranrs searcVmg -yfeykanr \Wa\V was syeeraf Vrecaose rr I A;* yO CON CV ,VA^ \\\Y \ A xneA'. CVWArcss of ’94 S , n ioo bep" f>™cti« nl Bott/ir, rile, ibe Urt stopon the Elephant Walk trail “Pun out" was held earlier at Bonfire stte to prevent juniors from bombarding walking seniors with rrtriouj jbj-rni of litter. _ Ta^vrroras TVrcy \m\wAngri~—— - ■ {o , 4 p X aceroAre.anAmrkes L ^ seniots wxtc cfcphai Yrrougfrv YraeV many syecra\ memorres from four great years ar N&eM. OrWAress sarA. ;—-—;— KarVry \orAon 50 \sft Aggieland