2 TheC!ompass Wednesday, April29. 1992 Lasn Jon»% SMUor Enfl9ld,NC In my opmioa MksTyson was vwxneriL ifeei Ms. Washinglon was just upsat because she cfdnt gel anyMng out of tw deal Msaning. she prabeny thought MkeTyson wouM^ve hersomeMng ishe stopt witti Nrl Whan she found out he was just out foragoodtimekshstetitashewas betrayed soshe SGfeamediapft* MtaryEBurcaw BtzabelhCay.NC ifeeithat Mr. Tyson was rif^tly convicted of the chaiges agairet him; although I do not beieve that he was ^ only gtAy party. In my opinioa Ms. Washin^on should not be regaided as a helprfess victim. Howsvar.Mr.Tysondeservestobe punished far his pait ^ the matter.* Talk of ECSU: Fkatos kf Jmms Smu Do you feel that Mike Tyson is really guilty of rape? Deiwin Overton, Senior Neptune NJ ; *No. Mite Tyson is not guS^ of ra^. The reason why i feel Hte ^is is tftat he has; enou^ money to buy any woman he wants—why would he ha^e to take sex from women?" Usa Burnett, Senior NewYork,NY tto. IthirritMkeTysonvwas not guilty ofthe rapechargas,beckisethegiriknewexactiy what she was gett^ into beforefnnd. Even though she said no. I fe^ that she didn’t mean it because no matter what, she could hawefougtiti)ack insteadofgiving in. Also, i she didn't want anytiting to happen between them, she shouldn’t have goneto he room dt three in the morning.* / 4 I ! Guest CoLmix Student ‘gambled with life and lost (ECSU student's name withheld) I will so(m die. It' shard tosay,evenhardertowrite.It's a realization I had not anticipated but must now accept You see, I have been diagnosed HFV positive. like most of you I thou^t it could never tuq[)pen to me. But it has. I know die statistics: peof^ diagnosed witt) the HIV virus only live between seven and ten years. My life is no longer infinite. Few cases of (KOf^livii^ in that ten plus range have even been docu mented. Ihaven'tlosthope MaybeGod willii^ s(xneone will oHne up with a cure. I've found it quite sad and kmdy to be left without hope, but it is for this reason that I've decided to write this cohmrn to you, my feOow ECSU students. R^t now I am sittii^ in and I look and led fine. There are approxi- matdy 35 others just in tins dass. I locdc around, and I wonder how many others of my classmates share my secret, my horror. In my heart I pra^ I'm ttie only one, but I don't reaUy If^w thisy since every 13 secMxls someone is beii^ exposed to a disease that only leaves behind corpses. AIDS has no conscience, and it leaves no survivors No CMie to date can say,'I'm a survivor. I beat AIDS." 1 am tryii^ to adjust, but KtHe thii^ tiiat (HK£ would have had no significance now affect me. Like woukl the person sittii^ next to me have taken that piece of gum? Would they have given n»e that pencil or would I be alienated, stared at and talked ^XNit? I would like to bdkve diat throu^ education most of us know ttwt AIDS can't be contracted by beii^ human or decent lay alone. When things are goii^ great and I fed on tq? (rf die world, sadness soars in and reminds me diat Ufie holds for me only pain, disease, and eventually, death. I see mysdf in bed with tubes in my nose, my arms, nurses comity in slidii^ on dieir gloves and masks beftne they appit)ad\ my bed. But I still mu^ hope. You see that's really all I have left No kwiger realistically do I hope for a fmufy, the big house, 25 kids and two cars. Instead, I'm trying to if j really want to spend the next two years tryingtograduate.Imean,reaDy—^what's the point? Shouki I qxmd die remainder of my life doing things I've always dreamed of, like ^ii^ to Greece, pAioto- graphii^alivevokano,viewii^tl«birdi (rfadf^hin? You see at this point, lifie^s small won ders are more af^iealing than college de grees. Shmt term goals are what I'm con- centratii^ »i. Compfetii^ this with gpod grades and one more friend dian I had yesterday are my primary concerns. If my unfortunate situation can make a difference in one of your lives, tiien I guessdieendreallywiUjusdfydiemeans. Sex is great; it's somethii^ diat should be treasured and k>i^ remembered. But unsafesexcanbe£ataLThemonKntisTK>t thatimportantTnBtme.Yesyforacoupie of days after that casual sexual encounter, you see no signsofa venereal disease so yew diink. I'm OK. This is a common nusconception.Takeitfiiomme.I^n^3led with lifie aivi I lost. Asyoungadults»wehavealoogvwiyto ^ toward understanding and amtrol- Kng this disease, but we can definitely start with protecting oursdves. What if I'm the person dtat you slept with mcmth, CMT even yesteiday? You must take the timetoprotect)^' sdf, because you never know who is in- fiected. Since ECSU's own infirmary only dis- tributescondomson Fridays txtweenfiv? and six, availability of life saving devices aren't always there, but maybe ournew SGA president and staff can address Ais vital Ksue. My fdlow Vikii^ peof^ (rfte** the impwtance of messs^ps given by dy' ing individuals; however, please lake to heart v^iat I am saying: Unsafe sex is deadty. The vision of growii^rfdissoineti'®8 I dcm't spent my time thinkii^ about aitymote. Day to day Hving and short termgoalsarcmyonlyfuturtrvealways liked fieelii^apart of groupsandciow'dsi is(^tion and londiness have never bee» my fortes. Hovrever, my path has be® charted,andlmusttiavd this road alofit It is my sincere and heartfd t wish ft** none of you win have to share flus widime. My future as a student here at ECSU U uncatain, but yours doesn't have Please be carefiiL

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