The Battalion
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Test secrecy results in few HIV statistics for Texas A&M students
By Kristina Buffin
The Battalion
IDS is the leading killer of people ages 24
to 44. But what Texas A&M students may
ot realize is that they are not immune to
deadly disease.
It is difficult to estimate the number of HIV
d AIDS cases among the A&M population. As
di nationwide statistics, reporting HIV and
DS cases is difficult because testing is confi-
ntial. But, as in most towns with a high popu-
ion of college students, statistics are even
)re difficult to ascertain in B-CS.
Charles Triplett, director of AIDS Services of
Brazos Valley, said the difficulty arises be-
use college students with HIV and AIDS are
ated by family doctors.
“AIDS reporting is done by the county in
lich they are a resident,” Triplett said. “Their
ctor diagnoses them in Dallas, Longview, or
latever town they are from.”
Triplett said another problem with HIV re
nting is that people can test positive for HIV
>htto 10 years before they develop AIDS.
Margaret Griffith, assistant health educa
tion coordinator for HIV and sex health at the
A.P. Beutel Health Center, said the problem
with estimating the number of HIV and AIDS
cases on the A&M campus lies in
confidentiality.
“When we test people, we don’t
ask if they are college students,”
Griffith said. “Also, reporting HIV
cases is not mandatory.”
However, Griffith, who was
an HIV counselor for four years
before coming to A&M, said
there are students who deal with
HIV and AIDS but do not talk
about it.
“The chances are that you don’t
know someone in college with
AIDS, because it sometimes takes
10 years to develop,” Griffith said. “But there are
people on campus who have HIV. I know stu
dents who have HIV”
This week marks HIV/AIDS Awareness Week
at A&M. The organizers of the event say they
want to stress even though one is young, he or
she can still be at risk.
“It is a hard message to sell because a ma
jority of people on campus do not perceive
that they are at risk,” Griffith said. “It is the
leading killer of people in this
age group.”
Rick Mendiola, an HIV edu
cator at AIDS Services of Bra
zos Valley, said he has spoken
to classes at A&M and tries to
emphasize if one engages in
high-risk behaviors, he or she
is at risk.
“Every semester, I do a pre
sentation for an early develop
ment class,” Mendiola said. “I
just try to make them aware that
it is out there, and that people do
no t always abstain. I am a col
lege student as well, so I think that helps me.”
Another part of the mentality is the “small
town attitude.” Triplett said this type of attitude
perpetuates the problem.
See AIDS, Page 4
"The chances are
that you don't know
someone in college
with AIDS, because it
sometimes takes 10
years to develop. ,,
Margaret Griffith
Asst, health education
coordinator for HIV
Dietitian seeks out healthy eats
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Derek Demere, The Bah ai ion
Inda Kapusniak and her low-fat dining guide.
,R
By Melissa Price
The Battalion
I ill Aggie has been invited to a
girlfriend’s 21st birthday par
ty. On the agenda: Going out
;at, pigging out on fried foods
and bar-hopping. Jill Aggie,
whose “freshman 15” is slowly
turning into a “freshman 50,” is
faced with a common dilemma:
eat out and blow her diet, or eat
a healthy meal at home.
Linda Kapusniak, staff dietit
ian at The Brazos Valley Women’s
Center, said a person does not
have to abandon the pleasure of
dining out to eat healthfully
In her book, A Restaurant
Guide to Low-Fat Dining in the
Brazos Valley, Kapusniak pro
vides readers with “best bets,” —
the healthiest items to order
when eating at restaurants in the
Brazos Valley. The wallet-sized
book, which has been the No. 1
seller at Hastings for the past six
weeks, lists the healthiest en
trees, side orders, desserts and
drinks at 115 restaurants.
Kapusniak, who earned a mas
ter’s degree in nutrition science
from Texas A&M in 1987, said the
idea for her book came about by
accident. As a dietitian, she began
to realize many of her patients
were concerned about dining out
and eating meals that were in ac
cordance with their diet. Kapus
niak said her patients continu
ously asked which dishes were
lowest in fat at certain restaurants.
After months of jotting down the
information for numerous pa
tients, Kapusniak realized the in
formation could benefit the citi
zens of the Brazos Valley.
Kapusniak said the book em
phasizes the importance of making
wise decisions while ordering out.
“We wanted to go one step
beyond the common sense of
knowing chicken is better than
beef,” she said. “A lot of times
people don’t know how to order
healthy from restaurants be
cause they are embarrassed or
don’t want to bother the waiter.
“The idea is, you no longer
open up the menu — the book
becomes your menu.”
She said the book has been
successful because it does not
ask a person to stop eating out,
but rather offers tips on what to
order at specific restaurants.
Kapusniak said people need
to learn how to ask for low-fat
dressing or for high-fat items to
be put on the side or omitted.
She said many restaurants are
flexible and will, for instance,
bake or grill chicken at a cus
tomer’s request.
Holly Rippa, Kapusniak’s in
tern in the fall of ’94 and summer
of ’95, said a common miscon
ception people have is the idea
dieting is restricted to “rabbit
food” and fat-free foods. She said
the book has shown this is not
necessarily true.
See Kapusniak, Page 4
A. IVl » S V 3B Tt Tir O W OST
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T Tt O N
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ONE NIGHT
EVENT
Reserved Seating
parents
Weekend v’allJ *1W phwit* twUy
4m,
The X’&rents
Weekend Concert
with special guest
TODD
snider
Another Popular Production
improvisational comedy
Laugh with
your parents.
(Then tell them about your
pregnant girlfriend and your
$2000 credit card bill.)
Parent’s Weekend
Friday 8c Saturday
April 18 & 19
10 p.m. Dixie Theatre (doors open at 8 p.m.)
Tickets are $6 available in advance at Rother’s
Bookstores and Marooned Records.
http:// http. tam u. edu: 81)00/ ~ f s tip
Page 3
Wednesday • April 16, 1997
Alex Walters, The Battalion
Texas A&M theater professor offers
last hurrah with Cherry Orchard
By Alex Walters
The Battalion
S ix years ago, Dr. Oscar Giner,
an associate professor of
speech communications and
theater arts, spent his days dancing
a fine line between a vague, mystic
reality and the push and pull of day-
to-day affairs.
He spent nights under ancient
stars in the New Mexico desert,
drifting between past and future
and writing chapters in the saga of
his ancestors.
This is the work Giner believed
he was called to do.
The Virgin of
Guadalupe, howev
er, had something
else in mind.
She appeared to
him in a dream, and
Giner promised he
would do as she
asked. He did not
know she would ask
him to leave his
work behind and tell
his story at Texas
A&M University.
Now, as he comes to the close of
a six-year career at A&M, Giner said
he realizes why the Virgin called
him here.
“I couldn’t have dreamed of a
more inhospitable place,” Giner
said. “ [And here], that has been pre
cisely my work — to make a state
ment in so far as I have been able —
to sing my song.”
The details of Giner's vision are
sacred, private agreements be
tween the Virgin and himself. But
when the curtains close, Giner’s
presence will change the theater
from a place of personal expression
to one of service for a greater good.
Chris Blake, a 1996 graduate of
A&M and a veteran of Giner’s pro
duction of Arthur Miller's The Cru
cible, said Giner opened his eyes to
the sanctity of the theater.
“Giner helped develop my respect
for the theater because I saw the sac
rifice that he was giving it—and that
sacrifice demands
total respect,” he
said. “It’s not about
‘Put me on the
stage,’ but, ‘How can
I serve the theater?”’
Giner has com
pleted his obligation
to the Virgin and is
ending his directing
career at A&M with
the completion of
his last two plays,
Anton Chekhov’s
The Cherry Orchard,
and Thornton Wilder’s Our Town.
As to why he chose The Cherry Or
chard : the story it tells of a family
leaving behind their most sacred
place is parallel to Giner’s situation of
saying goodbye to an institution that
did not always understand his vision.
See Giner, Page 4
"Giner helped develop
my respect for the
theater because I
saw the sacrifice that
he was giving it.”
Chris Blake
Class of '96
Class of 1997 Ring Dance
and Senior Week
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