the Seahawk | NEWS | October 28, 2004
3
STDs on the rise
International Programs seek
aid for visiting students
Carrie Van Brunt
Staff Writer
Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)
and infections continue to threaten the New
Hanover County population. AIDS has now
become the leading cause of death in males
ages 19-46 in the county.
In their 2001/2002 annual report, the
New Hanover County Health Department
noted 45 reported cases of HIV infection.
The number of reported HIV cases increased
from 45 to 79 in the 2002/2003 annual report,
an increase of 76 percent in one year.
Likewise, the number of reported chla
mydia cases increased 33 percent from the
year before, while the number of gonorrhea
cases increased 8 percent.
The NHC Health Department’s 2002/2003
annual report states, “This increase in num
bers is a resuh of increased HIV testing
efforts and increased community education
on early detection.”
However, statistics may not agree that
HIV awareness is on the rise. The 2001/2002
annual report states that 2,119 HIV tests were
administered at the site. The following year
numbers dropped, as only 2,038 HIV tests
were administered, 81 fewer than the year
before. The NHC health officials have yet to
comment on this discrepancy.
For UNCW students concerned about
STD testing, the NHC Health Department
is not their only option. The Student Health
Center at UNCW provides screenings and
treatments for sexually transmitted diseases
as well as prevention awareness.
ORGANIZATIONS from page 1
R. Roth, Associate Director for Involvement
and Campus Activities.
“We meet at least twice a semester, so the
process can move quickly,” LaCour said.
No definite number of people is required
to form an organization. “We try to say five
members, but the university isn’t permitted
to require rosters, so we can’t insist on any
minimum number,” LaCour said. “We actu
ally have a handful of organizations with two
people.”
One provisional organization with a robust
enrollment is the now forming Equestrian
Club. President and founder Sarah Gagliardo
said it has about 70 potential members.
“I started it because I missed riding,” said
Gagliardo, a sophomore. “1 sold my horse
when I came to UNCW.” She said she’d
been horseback riding in her hometown of
Concord for 11 years. “I’d grown-up with
it.”
The equestrian team plans on riding at
the Shingleton Farms stables in Wilmington.
“But we haven’t worked out all the details yet.
We’re hoping someone will donate horses to
us. We’ll see,” said Gagliardo.
For now the group is temporarily sitting
on the sidelines. “We’re at a standstill, wait-
In an e-mail interview Ms. Sharlene Pence,
nurse supervisor and assistant director of the
UNCW Student Health Center, said, “We
mostly test for chlamydia and gonorrhea. If
students request HIV testing, etc., they are
typically referred to the New Hanover County
Health Department.”
Pence said that STD visits are recorded
under the category Genitourinary, which
includes urinary tract infections as well as
STD testing. Therefore, the SHC was unable
to produce statistical data pertaining to the
number of students tested and treated yearly
for STD’s on campus.
UNCW students enrolled in at least six
credit hours are entitled to discount labora
tory charges as well as unlimited office visits
and consultations at the SHC. A 22-year-old
UNCW student recently diagnosed with the
Herpes Simplex Virus described her experi
ence with the STD as “unexpected and over
whelming.”
“Practicing safe sex is so important because
it is too late to prevent damage to your health
once you have contracted an incurable dis
ease,” she said.
Her advice to others is this: “It is startling
to know that one sexual encounter can com
pletely alter your sexual involvement with oth
ers for the rest of your life. Protect your body;
practice safe sex.”
Students with question about STD test
ing can visit the Student Health Center at the
Friday Hall annex or visit the SHC website at
http://www.uncwil.edu/stuaff/shc/.
ing for the SOC approval,” said Gagliardo.
Another organization awaiting the SOC
go-ahead is the Future Entrepreneurs Of
America. The group creator Will Fields said
he came up with the idea to teach students to
start and run their own business. “I want to
help them learn to be enterprising,” he said.
“Not working for someone else.”
Fields, from Durham, graduated from
UNCW last semester with degrees in business
and Spanish. He is currently pursuing gradu
ate degrees at George Washington University
in Washington D.C. “I hope to get the entre
preneurs going and then act as an adviser,”
Fields said.
The Martial Arts Club, which officially
began last year, is headed by George Brittain,
a junior, who returned to college at UNCW,
after a 25-year lapse.
“I had some friends interested in working
out with karate, jujitsu, kick boxing, so we put
out fliers and got 33 responses, so here we
are,” Brittain said.
He said the club usually meets three times
a week. “Unfortunately our number has dwin
dled to seven members,” said Brittain, who
has 30 years martial arts experience and sev
eral black belts. “We’re getting ready to put
out fliers again.”
Barbara J. Twigg
Assistant News Editor
UNCW Office of International Programs
is looking for students interested in being
mentors, friends and guides, to our 121 inter
national students from 39 countries.
“We desperately need students to help our
visitors get acclimated and acquainted both
on and off campus,” Miranda R. Boykin,
International Student Adviser, said.
“For many this is their first visit to the
United States and adjusting to a new culture
can be difficult and stressful,” she said.
Student mentors perform a variety of ser
vices for the foreign student.
“They can, for instance, help teach the
logistics of getting started at UNCW, such
as using e-mail or sealine or locating build
ings or introducing them to other students,”
Boykin said.
“Any time they spend with the interna
tional student is helpful,” she said. “The
s^dent usually mentors the visitor for at least
one semester. Often a friendship develops and
the relationship continues while they are at
UNCW.”
Boykin’s International Friendship Program
is also seeking host families, couples or indi
viduals to offer friendship and assistance to
the visiting students as they get settled in a
strange, new environment.
“The students live on campus, so hosts
would offer off-campus experiences. Activities
could include sharing a meal, visiting the
mall or simply walking around downtown
Wilmington,” she said.
“UNCW faculty and Staff would be wel
come hosts,” Boykin said. “We only ask that
they meet with their student at least once a
month.”
“Our main goal is to break dovra barriers,
to open the eyes of both the host and the stu
dent that we’re all very much the same,” she
said. “While we have both differences and
similarities, we really have more in common
than not.”
Boykin, who has been program adviser
for three years, said of the 121 international
students enrolled, France sent 12 students,
the most from any country, with Germany
next and then the United Kingdom.
One student James Hanna from
Worcestershire, England said he loves being
here. “I especially love the beach and the
weather.”
Hanna, here studying international busi
ness management, said he’s making plenty
of friends. “I’m pledging a fraternity. Sigma
Alpha Epsilon. We don’t have fraternities in
England.”
The only thing the junior could complain
about was the food. “I don’t think it’s very
healthy,” he said. “And I miss a home cooked
meal.”
Aisha Al-Qimlass from Kuwait also said
being close to the beach was a big plus at
UNCW. “This has the beach and Kuwait has
the beach.”
Although her father is from Kuwait, her
mother is from Greensboro. “I spend sum
mers in Greensboro, but that’s not on the
ocean,” said Al-Qimlass, who is studying
substance abuse counsehng.
Al-Qimlass summed up life here as
extremely eventful. “There are always cam
pus activities and something going on down
town,” she said.
Many of the international students are
athletes playing on UNCW teams.
“We have two Brazilians and a New
Zealander on the tennis team, two Canadians
on the men’s basketball team, others playing
soccer, swimming, women’s basketball and
golf,” she said.
Boykin thinks all student visitors are
unusual and unique. She enjoys meeting each
and every one of them.
“I love my job,” she said. “Our office is
their home away from home. They come in
if they have a problem and they stop by to tell
me if they got a good test grade.”
November 17-21 is
Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week.
Wednesday Nov. 17 the Hunger Banquet will be held at the
Warwick Center 6 p.m. Guest speakers and representatives
from non-profits around the Wilmington area will highlight
this powerful and moving event Donations of non-perishable
food will be accepted.
Come and get involved!
CM K