Groups sponsor AIDS Awareness Week

In an effort to educate students about HIV and AIDS, Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity and Kappa Delta sorority co-sponsored an AIDS Awareness Week, beginning this past Monday. The sponsored events, which conclude on Saturday, was comprised of daily one-hour workshops and an information table on Locust Walk. According to event organizers, the week is an effort to provide education and increase awareness on campus about the risks and dangers of HIV and AIDS, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. "We see this week as a great way for Penn students, who are so often focused on midterms and finals, to step back and learn some really important facts about AIDS." said College sophomore David Lewis, the Sigma Alpha Mu Philanthropy chairperson. College senior and Kappa Delta Philanthropy chairperson Judy Grunwald expressed the importance of AIDS Awareness Week. "We're all as much at risk of getting AIDS, or knowing someone with AIDS, or just having some connection with HIV," she said. "This is an outlet for them to learn." The workshops have been facilitated by educators from both the American Red Cross HIV/AIDS Programs and the Philadelphia Health Department AIDS Education and Prevention Unit. The educators teach the basic facts about AIDS, what it is, how it can be transmitted and how to prevent contracting the HIV virus. At the end of each session, condoms are made available to all participators. Angel Martos, Outreach/HIV Educator for the Philadelphia Health Department, said students can take certain precautions during sex to prevent the spread of this deadly virus. "So far this is the only way to protect yourself if you're having sex. Passing out condoms, to me, is like helping them," he said. "However, the safest kind of sex is abstinence." Kurt Conklin, a health educator at the Office of Health Education, said the awareness week is a good idea. "I think that there are a lot of misperceptions about HIV, and there's a lot of new information that's coming out, and the only way to reach people with that information is really by being pro-active and offering workshops," he said. "The nice thing about doing an awareness week is that it addresses a broad range of needs that people have for more information." The information table offers numerous pamphlets, booklets and resource lists that anyone can take freely to suit their needs. Those who have questions are given individualized attention.