What's Inside
Quill and Ink pages 8-9
Disc Spin pages 12-13
Chapbook News page 13
NEW!
Audacious Junk page 5
The Wall page 16
The Lance
Number 5
Volume 27
A St. Andrews Student Publication
February 23,1989
AIDS Discussed at Fireside Chiat
Michael Roberts
The subject of the latest in the
Fireside Chat series was AIDS, and
the guest speaker was Dr. W.D.
White, Distinguished Professor of the
Humanities. White stated that one of
the main problems concerning AIDS
(Acquired Immune Deficiency Syn
drome ) is the hysteria, fear,
paranoia,and phobia concerning the
disease. White cited the fact that in
1987, alone, five-hundred legislative
bills were introduced to "protect public
health, concerning AIDS." Of these
bills, fifty-one passed. "There is really
nothing that these bills can signifi
cantly do," said White, except allocate
money for funding programs and for
education." He added that this would
not help those members of society that
have the disease or have tested
positive for the HIV virus, and who
have been osiricized, quarantined,
and imprisoned.
Another result of the paranoia
surrounding AIDS, according to White,
is the rise in the number of cases of
"gay-bashing." "Gay-bashing is a term
that can be stated literally," he
said.while explaining the increase in
cases of violence against homosexu
als. White cited Laguna Beach,
California as his example. He stated
that this particular part of California
has, per capita, the same percentage
of reported AIDS cases as San
Francisco. Reported cases of vio
lence against homosexuals has
doubled in the last two years accord
ing to White.
White also informed the group
present of a situation known as
"dumping." "Dumping" is the act of
transferring a patient diagnosed with
AIDS from one hospital to one which is
better equipped to handle such cases.
White cited a hospital in Texas that
once handled AIDS patients, but is
now closed due to a lack of funds. In
most cases, patients were transferred
there for the sole reason that other
hospitals simply did not want to work
with AIDS cases, according to White.
White told the audience of one case of
dumping in which one individual lost
his job, his family, and his insurance.
No rest home would accept him, his
family could not afford to accept him,
and the Veterans’ Administration
refused support, although he was
eligible. White further added that the
patient was forced to stay at the
hospital until his death.
White reported that there have been
83,000 reported cases of AIDS in the
United States. Out of these, 1,350
were children under the age of twelve.
Of the 37,000 that have died, 1,200
have been children under the age of
two. The life expectancy of someone
diagnosed with AIDS is between
eighteen months and two years.
White also indicated that for every one
that dies, seven or eight are impli
cated. He also reported that there
have been 1.5 million cases of people
that have tested HIV positive. He
added that 75 percent, and probably
100 percent will die within fifteen
years.
While indicated that studies have
been done to detemiine how many
cases have been reported in several
identifiable groups. His statistics show
that people with black or brown skin
have had twice as many reported
cases of AIDS per capita than those
without black or brown skin. The
military reported that out of every
1,000 people that tried to enter the
service last year. 1.5 tested HIV
positive. He added that 70 percent of
hemophiliacs have tested positive.
White said that he believes that
scare tactics do not work in the war
against AIDS. "This is the only
disease we know of that is 100
percent fatal, and 100 percent pre
ventable," he said. "Our biggest
problem is in the language we use," he
added. White stated that the language
we use to inform the public is often
ambiguous and confusing. When
commenting on the behavior of college
students. White said, "I believe that
students are frightened, but as of yet,
there is no evidence that they have
changed their behavior."
Racism Forum During Black History Week
Mary Griggs
The second event that was scheduled
to celebrate Black History Week was a
campus wide forum on racism. Only
20 students attended the meeting
which was sponsored by the Black
Student Union. The students and
faculty viewed a Frontline documen
tary on Racism on College Campuses
and then spoke about comon con
cerns.
The most common sentiment
expressed by the students who
attended the event was anger that
racism is still so alive in the United
States.
"You would think that coming to
college would get rid of those old
stereotypes," says Omar
Feaster,"People don't realize that the
way that an individual acts is not the
way the whole group acts.
Another student, Vemita Thompson
asked,"Why are whites so uncomfort
able around blacks? In Saga, if there
is a table with 2 blacks sitting at it and
the rest of the seats are empty, they
walk on by, like we have it reserved or
something."
Campus Chaplain Shirley Arnold
wondered if the white students are just
waiting for the invitation to join.
[i^any other students remarked on
the behavior of many white student at
BSU parties."They seem to wait
outside so that they are not the only
white face there," said one student,
is a good thing, what with the tow
percentage of black students at the
school, that the other minorities don't
act the same way."
The need for respect was another
concern shared by all of the partici
pants. One person on the film stated
"You doni have to like me, but you do
have to respect me."
This was echoed by Jah Rootz,
"People have been miseducated. We
must see people for what they are
worth. Respect them because we
must all interact."
Those attending also spoke at)Out
possible changes in the deep rooted
prejudices that most people seem to
hold.
"First of all," said ShantinaEnwin.
'Ihe black student population at St An
drews must be the same as that in the
nation-12 percent. That is not that
nfiuch."
On the 20th anniversary of the death
of Rev. Martin Luther King. Jr. the
forum poignantly illustrated that the
fight for racial equality is not over yet.
In fact, it seems to have barely begun.
President Reuschling asked. "Why
can't we get along 1 on 1 ?" He re
ceived numerous answers.
"Change can't just be on an individual
basis," said Whissett Cohens. "It is
going to take effort and tots of time."
said another.