PcnnSlalE
It’s I
By: Nancy Costa
Many people think that they
should be put on a deserted
island somewhere and left there
to infect each other, resulting in
the extinction of their kind.
Others think it is God’s way of
punishing them for being gay.
But the rest, the educated few,
face the problem for what it is,
and concentrate more on a way
to solve it instead of where to
put the blame.
Though homosexuality is a
moral sin to some, it is a part of
life that is to be accepted or at
least tolerated if the AIDS
pandemic is to be solved. This
is where the real problem lies.
With three quarters of all adults
acquiring their infection he
terosexually, the truth of the
matter is, that AIDS is out there
for anyone and everyone and IT
holds no prejudice.
From Bermuda to
Zimbabwe, AIDS is now
considered a pandemic reaching
proportions of eight to ten mil
lion infected per sons. With
five thousand people being
infected each day, worldwide, a
predict ed thirty to forty million
will test HIV positive by the
year 2000, leaving approx
imately two million newborns
orphaned and infected.
Ignorance of the facts, and
simple minded logic says, "I’m
not gay and I don’t do drugs
intra venously, so I can’t get
it." This type of thinking is
what has led 84% of all women
ages thirteen and up, and 34%
of men trteen and
One Ml ion
at Dance Marathon
-By: Lisa Homberger
Penn State made history at
the dance marathon. The event
once again topped itself with an
enormous pledge of
$1,141,145.38. This year’s
total was about a 46 percent
increase upon last year’s total
of 785,835.35.
The group of 540 dancers
raised the money for Hershey
Medical Center’s Four
Diamonds Fund, which gives
financial assistance to kids with
cancer.
Not i
who have AIDS to acquire it.
This killer has no con science,
and has no sympathy for the
ignorant. So, here are the
facts.
One out of every five
hundred college students is HIV
positive. Mandatory HIV
testing on Job Corps applicants
shows that, "among sixteen to
seventeen year old applicants,
females were slightly more
likely than males to be
infected," suggesting an
increase in heterosexual HIV
transmission. This is the easiest
disease to avoid con tracting,
(by means of consistent condom
use with nonoxynol-9, cdmplete
monogamy with an uninfected
partner, or simple abstinence),
and the teenage-college group
cannot seem to stay away from
it. A recent study done on
four-hundred college students at
a Mid- West university, found
that the only change made
toward protecting themselves
was a greater selectivity in
choice of partners, with little or
no decrease in sexual contact.
This age group then tends to
forget that when a person sleeps
with someone, that person, in a
sense, sleeps with everyone else
that person slept with and every
person those people slept with,
etc... There is no way of telling
who slept with who-unless of
course a resume of past lovers
is kept on hand and up to
date—but this just does not
happen. What this boils down
to is this, if someone you slept
with ever slept with anyone
who slept with anyone who was
HIV positive—chances are you
ist m; be
dancers
Commonwealth campuses
joined the other 524 University
Park dancers for their
million-dollar raising, 48-hour
party.
Energies were high in the
gym Friday night. Sorority and
fraternity members and the
dancers’ friends filled the
stands.
By Saturday morning, the
dancers were still awake and
grooving to the tunes. They
Just
two days earlier 16
from the
Just Between Us... pg. 3
Creative Corner... pg. 4
March 20, 1992
recipient of the HTV virus too.
And hardly does anyone know
he/she is positive as it can take
as long as ten years for one to
show symptoms for AIDS--yes,
you may just be a silent carrier
right now and not even know it.
And AIDS does not stop for
husband and wife, lovers for
years, or couples who have
been together for months.
Monogamy does not make
everything perfectly safe either.
Your partner of five months,
maybe mono gamous with you,
but who was there before you?
There is absolutely no exact
way of telling. This, bed of
security, (no pun intended), is
one humongous misconcep tion
concerning the contractions of
AIDS. With the muse of
increased infection among
heterosexuals looming over the
shoulders of medical experts all
over the world, the race for a
cure is still on. With the
discovery of AZT and DDI,
two anti-viral medications, in
1987 and 1991, respectively,
there is hope for a cure, but
unfortun nately not in the near
future. Dr. Paul Volderbing of
University of Cali fomia, San
Francis co, shows scientific
hope. "We know now this is a
disease that can be fought and a
realistic goal today is to convert
the infecton to a truly chronic
disease disease. One where
people can live for decades, and
start thinking about retirement
funds."
But until that cure is found,
AIDS will spread rampantly,
unless the sexually active take
control and protect themselves.
As much as it may take the
night, played with yo
yo’s, and took bathroom
breaks.
Every eight hours, the
dancers were allowed' a
precious bathroom break. After
using the bathroom, the dancers
ran down a hallway, falling
onto a mat covered with baby
powder. Then, for a few
cherished seconds, the dancers
were allowed to lay on their
stomaches as morale boosters
gave them full body massages. r
During the dance marathon
Features.
Sports
Issue HI T T i .
Hazleton
DjSP~ >9
romance out of things or put a
damper on the mood-if you
must—arm yourself— because
this is not just a "gay disease"-
-NO ONE is safe.
Who's in the Navy
and Khaki Uniforms?
By: Erin Ann Keane
Just who are those students in
the navy and khaki uniforms?
They are Penn State’s own Lion
Ambassadors! The Lion
Ambassadors, defined by
current president John C.D.
Anderson 111, "are responsible
for the promotion of PSU pride
and tradition." Members strive
to pass traditions on to current
students and continue them in
Alumni.
The club has been in existence
only a few years on the
Hazleton Campus, and just this
semester acquired an office in
the Lower Commons. Since
establishment, the Lion
Ambassadors have managed to
expand their purpose beyond the
role of tour guides and
historians by reaching out to the
Hazleton community. Aside
from assisting admissions with
open houses, the Lion
Ambassadors have helped
university relations by attending
local engagements on and off
the campus. Members have
become involved in charity
work in the Hazleton
community and try to recruit
future Penn State students from
surrounding high schools.
The Lion Ambassadors is the
only club on campus that not
everyone can join. Students
must fill out a lengthy
application and be interviewed
by all eight lion ambassadors.
Approximately twenty- five
applications were received for
next semester of which only
eight can be selected. These
eight new Lion Ambassadors
are: Scot Finch, Eric Bush,
Jason Vachinski, Derek White,
Nicole Menherd, Kelly Clarke,
Jenn DeNigris, and Erin
Bauersachs.
, Pofflh.gg2;
pg- 7
• Pg- 8
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