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Study finds College Press Service With an estimated one in 500 college students infected with the HIV virus, students are becoming aware that they must learn how to protect themselves from getting AIDS, health officials said. The startling figure was found in a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and the A mprison PAI 1P HP HPflUh < mivi tvau ^uiivqv Association. The experiment was conducted by testing 20,000 blood samples drawn at 35 college health centers. The blood was drawn for purposes other than AIDS testing, and the non-identifying demographic samples were drawn between September 1989 and December 1990. AIDS cases are expected to increase because risk factors associated with AIDS are evident among college students. Risks such as having sex with a number of partners and not using a condom during every sex act exist for students on campuses nationwide. Information from university health centers also indicates that students use alcohol and other drugs that may impair their judgement when it comes to sex. /'It may take 50 times before they're infected, or it may take once," said Sharon Douglass, director of the HIV-AIDS Institute at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. "But it's going to happen." HIV infection and AIDS are the sixth-leading cause of death among 15- to 24-year-old men and women in the United States, according to CDC statistics. The only way for college students to protect themselves from becoming infected is to become aware of the risks and take precautions, officials said. The HIV-AIDS Institute, a nonprofit institution founded in 1977, is designed to educate students at UCF about AIDS and do research and give service to the Central Florida community regarding AIDS. In an effort to dispel myths about the disease, a class at UCF is taught exclusively about AIDS. The course, "HIV Disease: A Human Concern," is designed to reacn siuuenis intellectually ana emotionally about the effects and risk of contracting AIDS. B orea 1 i~f f in Introducing th( select Macintosl software progra norkciop alnno \ increase in Douglass, the founder of the institute and professor of the course, said her class of about 200 students per semester is always filled. She said students are eager to learn about AIDS, and the class has been a valuable tool for getting her message about AIDS to the students. "It goes in one ear, sticks and stays," Douglass said. Since the class is designed to appeal to students emotionally, people with AIDS are often guest lecturers. Students also watch a slide presentation about people who are dying from the disease. "Seeing how AIDS victims actually suffer made me think about the fact that I have to take precautions at all times if I don't want to suffer like them someday," an anonymous student's evaluation of the class said. Douglass said sometimes students enter the class with the attitude that AIDS is something that could never happen to them. She said before taking the class, many of her students were sexually permissive and didn't take any precautions to protect themselves against the disease. Douglass, a respiratory therapy professor, said most students have some kind of misconception about the disease before taking the class. She said some students still think of AIDS as a disease only gay men or drug users gel. However, the number of AIDS cases attributed to heterosexual contact increased by 91 nprrpnf from 1QOH tr? 1Q01 according to the CDC. Douglass said after about two weeks of the class, the students realize what they knew before the class was miniscule, and she said by the end of the class, they realize how uninformed they were about the disease. Since Douglass began teaching the class in 1986, she has had four HIV-positive students in her class, and another student had full-blown AIDS. She said there have probably been other students infected in her class who chose not to tell Douglass about their illness. Douglass said she thinks her class is changing attitudes of the students who take her course. She said many of her students tell her that they are asking more questions before they decide to jump in bed uyaMa inizeyo nances |Sh wammmamm dksmw? \**x. ML r*^?T ??M?? - I9t> Po*> UcM*?t? ?wt> ffifa :?L *>*V?W * 1?) (I. i ?} Jl/yt^u4. J. r/1 r/\A ?*iAA miM-UUUVJ LL, 1ZV y/OU, ternal AppleCD 300i CD-ROM Drive, Apple Keyboard U and mouse. i Great Apple Campus Dea tf or PowerBook'computei ms. It's all included in one las a combined SRP value < in th ?1993 Apple Computer, Inc.. student HI1 KS Safe sex can red The following safer-sex methods cat with the IIIV virus, according to the Abstain from sex with an infected | Ask about the sexual history of cur and future sex partners. Reduce the number of sex partners minimize the risk of HIV infection. Always use a latex condom from st finish during the sex act, including vaginal or anal sex. Use only water-based lubricants. Avoid deep-tongue kissing with an infected person. Although transmis; HIV has not been documented froir kissing, a tear in skin could result ii exchange of blood. Avoid alcohol and other drugs. The only affect your immune system, th also affect your judgment. Avoid anal or rough vaginal sex. Do not share personal items such a: toothbrushes and razors because th( may be contaminated with saliva or Chris Muldrow/The Gamecock with anyone. She said her formei students now tell her they are wait ing longer before having sex with i new partner and are now practicing safe sex with condoms. Students may be waiting longei to have sex, but they are only practicing selective protection, saic Joanne Auth, a health educator ai the University of Florida's Health Center. Auth said many students are using condoms only when they feel their partner is at risk. "And dial may not be enough of the time,' she said. According to Auth, it's difficult for students to comprehend thai someone infected with HIV doesn'i necessarily look sick; in fact, they can look healthy for years. College students tend to think they know everything about AIDS, although many students don't know about a second strain ot AIDS thai is mostly found in West African countries but is also being found in tbe United States, Auth said. Unlike Douglass, Auth thinks it's difficult to teach college students about AIDS because they think they know everything. She said during her presentations tc classes, she has to grab the audience by providing entertainment and getting the students involved in the discussion. In an effort to grab the attention cintosh: urume, or go co t JL Macintosh LC 475 4I8L 14" Display, Apple Keyb 1. Now, when you buy any vou'll also receive seven low price. And the software of $5961 It was designed to Visit your Apple Campus Rese Contact USC te Russell Ho Ml rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh and PouerBook at 'Based on the combined Suggested Retail Prices (SRP) of the products V infections luce HIV risk i lessen chances of becoming infected Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta: -icrson. don of ??? 1 ihe ||||:. y not pi|silk ?y H . Z?' ,..... . v; t-iii, v; "i. j -y blood. Source: College Press Service r of the 18- to 24-year-old crowd, an AIDS cartoon was produced by the t National Institute on Drug Abuse ' of the Federal Department of Health and Human Services. The r cartoon is geared toward educating I the younger generation about the [ connection between the use of , drugs and alcohol and unsafe sex. The public service campaign is : titled "Get high, get stupid, get 1 AIDS." It targets the college-age t crowd with the message that it's easy yo get AIDS if you're high on drugs or intoxicated. "Young adults are particularly 1 vulnerable to AIDS, and manv of \ them are turned off by scare tactics," said Avraham Forman, deputy chief of the Community and Professional Education Branch of the National Institute of Drug Abuse. i According to Forman, the cari toon characters used in the campaign look, talk and behave like the ' target audience. The campaign, as well as other campus programs, is teaching stu| dents how to protect themselves from becoming infected because AIDS is not a gay disease or a i druggie disease; rather, it's, a dis- J > i, ,n e^j ?tlva| ,,c,m is, r ,aM social 1 i boundaries. , ... ,, nowand straighte mpletely i ), Apple Color Plus oardlland mouse. give you the kinds of programs; your time and money. And son an Apple* computer? It does mo ller for more information. Bookstore use 777-743' e registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. AppleCD is a trademark ofAppi m The Campus Software Set for Macintosh as of October I, 1993 Shot provides relief during flu season College Press Service the elderly." said Nancy Arden. College students heeded 01 InH^nia UpiUemiology wamintrc frnm hpttlrh nmfoccirtn- AdlVlly at the CDC. als and lumed out in droves at K1ha' ^'sn ' "^-^'.v ""-'an campus health centers to be vac- ,hal lhc,,lu *ason ,h's >'ear's cinated against a nasty strain of expecicUro he worse 'ton other influenza that's making the ytors. CDC health otticials note, rounds *" y warn 1 percent 10 In mid-October, health offi- 20 lhc ? cials at the Indiana University of ex?eclt:d ,obc ",l'-"c,cl) w,,h ,a? Pennsylvania ran out of vaccine 1'"luenza v,ruscs ,ha' cause ,hc because of high demand for free ' , . J . flu shots and had to order anoth- J*131 s *>ut 1101 ncar '> as er supply bad as the worldwide influenza The flu season generally runs ou,break of 1918, which eventufrom November to March, a"y more than 20 million according to health officials. people dead, .48,000 in the "As a direct response to the United States alone, large number of students unable . current vaccine contains to get flu shots, we have institut- v'rus strains of three distinct ed this action," Rhonda Luckey, groups of influenza viruses in director of administrative ser- worldwide circulation. \\ hen a . , , , r . . nnrenn ?c n vices at me Kecnan rteaitn <? Center, told The Penn student dosal?c of J1* virus prompts the newspaper. body to build up an immunity to Although the best time for lhe i,,ncss alHl prevents the virus vaccination is at the start of the from attacking lor at least a flu season in October, anybody year's time, can still get flu shots. Some uni- A' Hofslra University in versity clinics offer the shots for Hempstead, N.Y., students free, although others may charge reported more cold ami tin small fees. If the campus clinic symptoms earlier than usual this isn't offering the shots, check year, health officials said, with local county or city health "We might be experiencing an clinics or hospitals to find out earlier flu epidemic this year." how much they charge for the sa't' ^r. H. Zane Kirk, medical service. director at the Indiana University There's a good reason for fear ?f Pennsylvania, of flu: Influenza can be danger- Kirk also warned that students ous, particularly for the elderly who received fin shots last year and for all ages with existing will not be protected this year, lung problems, heart disease, Some of the common symptoms asthma or diabetes. The flu can of influenza are nausea, lead to pneumonia, not to men- headaches, fever, chills, congestion that it's inconvenient as tion, sneezing, coughing, body heck during finals when you or muscle aches and diarrhea. neea 10 oe up an nignt studying, n you oo eaten a coiu or tne not hugging a bottle of medicine, flu. Dr. Jamie Weiner of This strain is the Hofstra's Community Health A/Beijing/3.2/92 virus, which is Program advised students that it one of three influenza viruses in was best to treat one major worldwide circulation, according symptom at a time rather than to; the Centers for Disease buying over-the-counter mediControl in Atlanta. cine that treats multiple symp"When this type of virus, toms. In addition, the old standwhich has been circulating since bys, plenty of liquids and chick1968, has been the epidemic en soup, help by loosening i ^r^in.uwe have seep # more secretions in the sinus and chest, severe impact on older people Weiner told the student newspaand a higher death rate among per. you can in ni if Trrvnt* ii yjui ywui baMc. \ KE - .-ZZr^a b IH Apple PowerBook 145B 4/80. you need most. Programs to organize le programs just for fun. So, why buy re. It costs less. It's that simple. t M * 0 e Computer. Inc.