2008 Woodie Awards
AIDS week awakens College community
Kelly Janis
Issue date: 12/7/06 Section: Features
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The urgent significance of observances such as World AIDS Week is clear. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, at the end of 2005 there were an estimated 38.6 million people worldwide living with HIV, in addition to the more than 25 million people who have reportedly died of the disease since 1981.
The Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC), is one force working to redress these calamities. The group helps to educate and inspire activisim so that such figures recede in the future. In addition, the group "educates and raises awareness about the fight against AIDS on both the local and national level while also spanning fundraising events" as described by co-president Brittany McAdams '09. An integral part of that fight is the flurry of efforts staged on the Middlebury campus in concert with World AIDS Day. The event was established by the World Health Organization in 1988 and observed each year on Dec. 1, in the interest of illuminating the staggering prevalence of HIV/AIDS and urging government agencies, community organizations and individuals to do their part in combating the disease and supporting the search for a cure.
The SGAC does not settle, however, for a mere single day of recognition. Instead, for the past four years, it has translated World AIDS Day into a campus-wide World AIDS Week, celebrated this year from Nov. 29 through Dec. 2.
"World AIDS Week is important for us because it spreads awareness of HIV and AIDS on campus and gives the students a forum in which to talk about the epidemic," said McAdams. "It also addresses an issue that many people connect to third-world countries, specifically the African continent, and in doing so, often forget its harsh influence in the United States. World AIDS Week is hopefully also fun for students," she added.
The week's commemorative events kicked-off in McCardell Bicentennial Hall last Wednesday with "The Biogenetics of HIV/AIDS," a lecture given by Assistant Professor of Biology Jeremy Ward, who is currently researching the identification of the mammalian meiotic mutation with support from the Vermont Genetics Network. According to Ward he sought to cover "the basic biology of HIV, including what type of virus it is, how it infects, how it reproduces and how HIV therapies target various aspects of the viral life cycle."
The Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC), is one force working to redress these calamities. The group helps to educate and inspire activisim so that such figures recede in the future. In addition, the group "educates and raises awareness about the fight against AIDS on both the local and national level while also spanning fundraising events" as described by co-president Brittany McAdams '09. An integral part of that fight is the flurry of efforts staged on the Middlebury campus in concert with World AIDS Day. The event was established by the World Health Organization in 1988 and observed each year on Dec. 1, in the interest of illuminating the staggering prevalence of HIV/AIDS and urging government agencies, community organizations and individuals to do their part in combating the disease and supporting the search for a cure.
The SGAC does not settle, however, for a mere single day of recognition. Instead, for the past four years, it has translated World AIDS Day into a campus-wide World AIDS Week, celebrated this year from Nov. 29 through Dec. 2.
"World AIDS Week is important for us because it spreads awareness of HIV and AIDS on campus and gives the students a forum in which to talk about the epidemic," said McAdams. "It also addresses an issue that many people connect to third-world countries, specifically the African continent, and in doing so, often forget its harsh influence in the United States. World AIDS Week is hopefully also fun for students," she added.
The week's commemorative events kicked-off in McCardell Bicentennial Hall last Wednesday with "The Biogenetics of HIV/AIDS," a lecture given by Assistant Professor of Biology Jeremy Ward, who is currently researching the identification of the mammalian meiotic mutation with support from the Vermont Genetics Network. According to Ward he sought to cover "the basic biology of HIV, including what type of virus it is, how it infects, how it reproduces and how HIV therapies target various aspects of the viral life cycle."
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