AIDS and the Innocent

Whether the conservative community wants to accept AIDS orlabelita"gay's"disease isobsolete; ithas crept into the innocent members of societybabies, unknowing marriage partners, blood transfusionrecipients and users of unsterile needles.

Innocent?Maybe,oris it the naive individual upon whom AIDS pounces? This isthe type of innocence one cannot afford. LU students agree that there must bebetter education about thedisease.

"I think the facts aboutthe AIDS virus should be made known to everyone,about how it spreadsand how toavoid getting the AIDS virus.Small children, especially, shouldbe made aware of thedisease." - Kevin Harris,JuniorBusinessManagement, Flatwoods,Kentucky.

Students also agree that the medical field needs to be more careful. One student overheard two nurses talking ina department store line about how they hated wearing gloves and how they had to cut the index finger from theglove to do their job properly! Properly or easier? The student belief is thatpatients deserve protection from unsterile needles and possible infection by gloveless practitioners.

"In m y county a girlgot AIDS from an infected needle used by a hospital nurse, and another girl got AIDS from a manicurist who mixed his infectedblood with acuthe made on her finger."- Magda Stenzel, Sophomore Journalism Graphic Arts,Porto Alegre, Brazil.

It isalso believed that the media isdownplaying thereality of AIDS toavoid a national panic.

"It is ashame.I have a close friend whose son died ofAIDS. It is sad how everyone is affected. I definitelyagreethat the media is doing acover up." Lisa Pepperdine, Sophomore Elementary Education, Reading, Pennsylvania.

The statistics back upthe students' opinions. The World Health Organization has estimated 60,000peopleareinfected withAIDS.Throughoutthisdecade,the number isestimatedto climb to five to six million people infected world wide.

Are thestudentsangry?Yes. They realizeAIDS is threatening society in the 90's.Some, though,view thisastheage-old war between good and evil.

JenniferFerrell