The Blue Banner
February 23, 1995
University of Washington Combats AIDS with "Safer Sex Week'
(CPS) - Last year, the University
ofWashington (UW) distributed
40,000 prophylactics during
“Condom Week” to educate stu
dents on the Seattle campus about
the dangers of AIDS. This year,
joining condoms were pam
phlets, speakers from family plan
ning and AIDS organizations,
and face-to-face discussions with
health agencies at educational
booths, and the week was re
named “Safer Sex Week.”
UW’s bolstered effort came
about the same time that U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta
announced that AIDS replaced
accidents as the No. 1 killer of
American adults ages 25 to 44.
“The university figured infor-
majtion and education and
condoms were all-inclusive,” said
Renee Richardson, a coordina
tor of the University of
Washington’s Safer Sex Week.
“Last year, we tried to be more
entertaining to draw students out
and invited Dr. Ruth
Westheimer. Rather than
‘Condom Week,’ we wanted a
different approach.”
National studies have shown
one in every 500 college students
are infected with HIV, the virus
that causes AIDS. But on some
campuses, the rates of infection
may be much higher. At the
University of Southern Califor
nia in Los Angeles, college health
authorities estimate as many as
one student in every 150 is in
fected. This exceeds the HIV-
infection rate among southern
California’s general population,
which is estimated to be one in
every 250 people.
But statistics indicate large city
college campuses aren’t the only
ones affected by AIDS. The CDC
said that AIDS now is the lead
ing killer of young adults in 79
U.S. cities, including such places
as Springfield, 111.; Omaha, Neb.;
and Tulsa, Okla.
“It was very alarming when we
all first heard of it here,” said Lori
Griffin, a senior education ma
jor at Tulsa University. “In high
school, it was something none of
us knew about.”
Statistics, however, indicate the
college years pose the highest
risk of infection.
“Young people in general are at
risk, and college students are defi
nitely at high risk,” said Lynora
Williams, public affairs director
for the AIDS Action Council, a
Washington-based advocacy
group. “There’s often a 10-year
period from when people get the
virus (and die) so the people get
ting infected are 15 to 30 years
old.”
While the majority of students
understand that condoms are the
best protection against AIDS and
other sexually transmitted dis
eases, few students claim to use
them on a regular and consistent
basis, according to American
Social Health Association.
A national study of sex prac
tices taken last year by the Uni
versity of Chicago indicated only
10 percent of Americans with
one sex partner used condoms
regularly. The information also
showed only 30 percent of Ameri
cans said they used condoms at
any time.
In 1993, about 35 of every
100,000 young adults died from
AIDS. Meanwhile, about 32 per
100,000 died from accidents.
Cancer, heart, disease, suicide
and murder followed.
More than 441,000 Americans
have gotten AIDS since 1981,
and more than 250,000 have
died, the CDC said. Worldwide,
health officials estimate that more
than 10 million adults and about
one million children have been
infected with the HIV virus since
the pandemic started.
Meanwhile, American college
students aren’t the only students
who are being targeted for AIDS
education. In China, the nation’s
education departments intro
duced AIDS prevention and
treatment courses in colleges this
year. Of the 1,400 Chinese in
fected with HIV between 1985
and July 1994, more than half
were between the ages of 20 and
29.
“The more targeted the mes
sage is and the more explicit it is,
the better,” said Williams.
“People accept this information
and understand it better if people
don’t speak in code.”
VM.I. MAY BE AUOm TO RETAIN AU-MAIE STAIUS
(CPS) - After nearly five years of legal battles, the Virginia Military
Institute may not have to enroll female students, according to a
recent ruling by a federal appeals court.
And if the decision stands, officials from The Citadel are confident
that the same logic used in that decision will apply to their case as
well.
A judicial panel of the U.S. Court ofAppeals for the Fourth Circuit
Court voted 2-1 in favor ofV.M.I. and the state of Virginia, finding
that there are legitimate reasons for a state to run a single-sex,
educational institution.
“A sex-neutral atmosphere can seem less distracting to late adoles
cents in a educational setting where the focus is properly onmatters
other than relationships between the sexes,” wrote Judge Paul
Niemeyer in his ruling. “If we were to place men and women into
the adversative relationship inherent in the VM.I. program, we
would destroy, at least for the period of the adversative training, any
sense of decency that still permeates the relationship between the
sexes.”
The court’s ruling was based in part on Virginia’s proposal to set
up a “leadership training” program at Mary Baldwin College, a
private institution for women. Although the court acknowleged
that the program would not have the tradition of VM.I., it would
provide females with a similar, although not necessarily identical,
background in military training.
The state will give Mary Baldwin College $6.9 million to begin the
leadership program if the ruling stands. The appeals panel also
stipulated that V.M.I. officials must provide qualified managers and
trainers for the new program.
Major Gen. John Knapp, V.M.I.’s superintendent, said he is
pleased with the court’s decision and hopes to put the matter behind
the school and the state. “We need to move forward with our plans
for Mary Baldwin College,” he said. “There is a great Challenge
ahead.”
But Marica Greenberger, co-president of the National Women’s
Law Center, said that the matter isn’t resolved yet. “This ruling goes
against the logic of the constitution,” she said. “I really can’t see how
it would stand. The decision is based on illogical thinking.”
J udge Dick Phillips, J r., the dissenting member of the panel, called
the proposed Mary Baldwin program a “pale shadow” of V.M.I.
Phillips wrote that the motivation behind keeping the school all
male was driven by a “stereotypical view of the proper role and
capabilities of women in society.”
V.M.I.’s legal woes began in 1990, when the U.S. Justice Depart
ment sued the school on behalf of a woman who was denied
enrollment. In 1991, a district court ruled that V.M.I. could remain
all-male, but that decision was overturned a year later by an appeals
court, who ruled that the state of Virginia could not offer single-sex
education for men only. The state was given the option of admitting
women into V.M.I., severing all ties with the military institution, or
developing a similar program for women. After Virginia officials
designed the prgram with Mary Baldwin, the Justice Department
appealed the 1991 ruling, saying the prposed program was not
comparable to the V.M.I. experience.
The late-January decision by the U.S. Court ofAppeals not only
clears up V.M.I.’s situation, but may pave the way for a similar ruling
for The Citadel, South Carolina’s public all-male military institu
tion.
The Citadel is currently appealing a decision to adrhit Shannon
Faulkner, the 19-year-old graduate of Wren High School in
Powedersville, S.C., who was accepted to The Citadel after having
Wren officials delete all references to her gender on her transcripts.
Faulkner was later rejected after Citadel officials learned she was
female.
“We would assume that the same thought process that went into
the V.M.I.case would apply to our case as well,” said Majoi Rick
Mill, spokesman for The Citadel.
Mill said that the school would be willing to pay $5 million to help
set up a training program with an all-female institution, similar to
VM.I.’s arrangement with Mary Baldwin College. But, he added,
“There haven’t been any schools showing signs of interest yet.”
The Citadel’s case is currently being reviewed by the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Court. The panel includes Judge Paul
Niemeyer, who authored the decision on the V.M.I. case.
Bong Empfy
Columnist
I had never seen my friend as animated as he was at that party.
His eyes were wide with indignation and spittle flew from his
mouth as he preached the gospel of the fabled cannabis. His
flock of listeners must have agreed with him completely be
cause they made no comments through their half-lidded,
bloodshot eyes. The biggest excitement came when the an
nouncement was made that there were chips in the house.
“Why is it illegal?” my friend asked with outrage creeping into
his voice. No one had an answer for him. In my opinion, there
is no real answer. I am of the belief, not that marij uana is perfect
and without fault —that is ludicrous— but if alcohol, a
narcotic in its own right, is legal for anyone of age, then
marijuana should be given the same right.
Marijuana is a drug that, if smoked, destroys your lungs and
robs you of brain cells. This is the undeniable truth. However,
it has a good side as well. There are, in fact, a few medicinal uses
for cannabis, but I have never thought that that was a good
enough argument for legalization. If marijuana must be illegal,
so be it, but why is alcohol spared the wrath of the law and the
even harsher wrath of public opinion? Is alcohol not dangerous
as well? Is it not physically addictive? Does the abuse of alcohol
not destroy lives? It most certainly does. Yet, it is still O.K. for
a 21 -year-old to go to a bar and order a beer.
I don’t know about you, but that strikes me as a bit strange.
Who decided that this particular vice should be seen as immoral
and wrong, but that this other vice is O.K.? I won’t even bring
uo the fact that marijuana has been found to not be physically
addictive, while alcohol has been, that is not the point. After all,
both vices are bad for you. I am not disputing that. But if
marujuana is illegal, then doesn’t it stand to reason that alcohol
should be as well?
I know that our country tried prohibiting the sale of alcohol
before, I am not ignorant of this country's history. I also know
that one of the main reasons that prohibition did not work was
because the number of violent and alcohol related crimes
skyrocketed.
Luckily, most marijuana users lack the motivation to stage a
revolution, yet the principle remains the same. Alcohol is not
legal because it should be. It is legal because the masses
demanded that it be. So, once again, I state if marijuana, the
wacky tobaccy, must be illegal, then alcohol should be stricken
from the record as well.
That little voice inside my head keeps screaming to me, “Two
wrongs don’t make a right! Making both substances legal
would solve nothing.” That is a valid point. Two wrongs do not
make a right, but one right and one wrong is not a great average
either.
It’s the hypocrisy that really gets to me. I am not advocating
the smoking of marijuar^a, nor am I advocating the drinking of
alcohol, I just wonder what makes one O.K. and the other a
taboo. It seems silly that such a big deal is made over a plant or
a bottle of fermented grain. But the inconsistency with which
the two substances are seen irks me to no end.
"GET OFF THE CROSS"
STUDENT TIRED OF COMPLAINTS
After reading your dim-wit
ted, whiny, incoherent, and
rambling diatribe, Mr.
Edwards, I believe your best
course of action is to take Dr.
lovacchini’s advice, and get
counselling.
The only fault I have with
The Blue Banner is using valu
able space for your crapola.
This is space that could, and
should, have been devoted to
individuals with something
truly important to say.
I honestly hope the reason
for publishing your gobbledy-
gook was to illustrate to the
campus community what a
crackpot you, indeed, are. Get
off the cross, Edwards. There
are too many real people in
this world who need the wood.
Randy Marrs
Senior
Mass Communication
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