AIDS: The new epidemic

On Wednesday, Sept 30 the Health depart- ment gave a presentation of AIDS: The new epidemic at Marian Hall.

Is AIDS the “new epi-

demic”? Perhaps, rela- tively speaking, if we com- pare AIDS to the _ black plague or the typhoid fever that hit South America and

the U.S. in the late 1800's.

Since the first docu- mented case in 1981, AIDS has spread to all corners of the world, making the once feared sexual malady her- pes seem like a case of the common cold.

As the title of this video presentation asserts, so too was the message. The pre- sentation, in a fairly frank manner, put to rest many of the myths surrounding the disease: “Can one fall prey to AIDS from an in- fected mosquito?”, “Can one aquire AIDS from a toilet seat?”classic myths such these help perpetuate the fear and the stigma at- tached to the disease and its victims.

A review

Despite this, the producers if AIDS: The new epidemic failed to in- ject any sophistication into the 35-minute presentation. Sure they covered most of

the popular myths associ- ated with the disease, but that’s almost an obligation of sorts.

To make the documen- tary a truly credible jour- nalistic medium, the pro- ducers and directors could, for example, have had in- terviews with the leading authorities and researchers of the disease to find the lastest breakthroughs in AIDS treatment and re- search. This need was not met, therefore making for a rather unenlightening doc- umentary.

After the presentation, Dr. Doug Tweel hosted a question and answer pe- riod. Unfortunately, the most important question— how many cases of AIDS/H.1.V. positive cases are there presently in PEI? This was not answered in a direct straightforward man- ner.

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I and three others asked this question but we were never suffi- ciently answered. Finally, one questioner got an an- swer that was a bit more di- rect. Dr. Tweel stated that to get that kind of infor- mation, they would have to analyze blood samples from every individual in PEI.

It was on this note that the AIDS _ presen- tation/information session was closed; a rather ironic twist as nothing new was learned from the session. =

Anyone interested in forming a Film So- ciety — There will be Oct.9

a meeting Fri. at 12 noon on the second floor of the

Barn. All ‘interest- ing students are en- couraged to attend. «

In Recognition

It’s not very of- ten that the services of students are _ rec- ognized but this par- ticular incident was brought to my atten- tion and I feel it de- serves some. recogni- tion.

On September 18th the Security Depart- ment received a call that a lady had fainted on the fourth floor of Dalton Hall. Upon ar- rival they found Richard Martinez, a resident student, had

everything under con- |

trol and was adminis- tering first aid.

It is certainly our pleasure to recog- nize the abilities, self- motivation and caring interest of one of our students. Congratula- tions Rick and thanks for a job well done!

Sherri Egan

I HOPE HE DOESN'T HAVE AIDS! “=

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YOU CAN'T LIVE ON HOPE.

~—THOPE | ZX SHE DOESN'T ” HAVE AIDS!

\ 0 Ls

—

You hope he's the right guy.

You hope she’s the one. And you both hope the other one is not infected with the AIDS virus.

Of course you could ask. But your partner might not know. That's because it's possibie to carry the AIDS virus for many years without showing any symptoms.

The only way to prevent getting

infected is to protect yourself. Start using condoms. Every time.

AID

" [fyou think you

Ask him to use them. If he says no, so can you.

can't getit,

you're deadwrong,

DRAMA:

by Eddy London

I had the opportunity to check out the Halifax rockers, DRAMA, Thurs- day night (October Ist) at the S.U. Barn.

The

crowd consisted mainly of Freshmen and Sophmores although it was reported that there were Seniors and Juniors present. This had a drastic effect on the at- tendance numbers, insult- ing not only DRAMA, but also the opening act Sweet Surrender. Fortunately, this had no negative effect on the sound or on the stage performance of either band. Along with a phe- nomenal light show, both bands backed up their ap- pearance with a strong and tight show.

Talking with Peter Et- tinger, lead singer of DRAMA, proved to be a worthwhile experi- ence. He informs us that DRAMA has been together for two years, moving up in popularity with every show. Lead by Vancou- ver freelance producer and

A Review

\M

engineer Rolf Henneman, DRAMA has gained much attention as a result of their victory in the Labatts Blue Live Battle of the Bands.

When asked, Ettinger has been influenced by the likes of Billy Joel and Mick Jagger. Moving away from his obsession with the Rolling Stones, DRAMA has found themselves play- ing to preps, punks, and partiers. So, why would a band with such esteem and popularity bother to play to a crowd of some fifty-plus alcoholics at the UPEI Barn??? Ask me not!! Publicity is definitely not to blame as_ posters were posted everywhere to be seen on campus.

To conclude, I was thoroughly impressed with DRAMA’s presentation, but not with the crowd attendance or re- sponse. Until the students of UPEI develop some ap- preciation for music instead of getting drunk to the golden oldies, we’ll not see any other band with the es- teem of DRAMA. 2

= Page 6

=e ea

SS Thursda , October 8 1987