Speakers discuss AIDS laws

At the final event of HIV/AIDS Awareness Week, three speakers discussed legislation to protect the rights of AIDS victims. Almost 25 students attended the forum, which addressed controversial issues in AIDS-related law, including the mandatory reporting of health care workers infected with HIV. The first speaker was Michael Isbell, staff attorney for Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, an organization devoted to protecting lesbian and gay rights. In his talk, Isbell said that additional funding for scientific research and treatment is needed in the fight against AIDS. "The answer [to the AIDS problem] is more advocacy, more research, and more training. Unfortunately, these are in short supply," he said. Isbell blamed President George Bush for much of this "short supply" of support. He criticized Bush's new budget proposal, saying that it allots an inadequate amount of funding to national research and to cities, in which AIDS is reaching epidemic proportions and still increasing at an exponential rate. "Basically, the Bush administration does not want to spend more on AIDS," Isbell said. Isbell went on to criticize Medicare and Medicaid because he said that they do not recognize the imminent disability of AIDS patients. Instead, Medicare and Medicaid only provide financial aid to patients after they become disabled. Isbell also addressed the trend in many states to enact laws that charge people who accidentally or intentionally transmit the HIV virus with criminal negligence. He said that he is disturbed by this "overly enthusiastic" use of these statutes because it inaccurately portrays all HIV patients as being dangerous and irresponsible. Following Isbell was David Weber, executive director of the AIDS Law Project. He discussed recent developments in state and national law concerning AIDS. In Weber's view, the most important issue in AIDS law today is whether a health care worker is required to report the status of an AIDS patient. Pennsylvania law states that a patient diagnosed as having AIDS must be reported, while a patient only having the HIV virus does not. Isbell interjected and condemned the reporting of HIV positive patients because it infringes upon their right to privacy and because reported patients would withdraw from society and miss out on available health care and counseling. Weber also discussed the recent enactment of numerous nondiscriminatory statutes. He said that Pennsylvania is a frontrunner in this department, having passed a state law in 1986 that protects HIV infected workers from being fired or treated unfairly in the workplace. The final speaker was Joann Mitchell from the University's Office of Affirmative Action. She said one of the University's main goals is education and prevention, which will be facilitated by giving students ample access to information about AIDS. She said the University also hopes to institute policies which promote the nonprejudicial treatment of people with AIDS. Mitchell said that the University's Nondiscrimination Policy already accomplishes most of this aim. Finally, the University wants to teach students and faculty to respect people of differing sexual orientations, Mitchell said. College senior Dennis Johnson said he found the speeches enlightening, but he suggested that the University hold one large public forum instead of numerous small lectures in order to increase attendance. "The only people who come to these lectures are already knowledgeable but interested in the subject," he said. "I wish the HIV/AIDS Awareness Week were structured to educate people who aren't aware." Mitchell attributed the disappointing attendance to the fact that people who are at risk of contracting AIDS feel more comfortable discussing their situations on a one-on-one level than in a group. Despite the lecture's small turnout, Mitchell said that the University should be proud of the efforts made by its student activists to promote AIDS education.

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