U. sponsors AIDS awareness forum

and Tammy Polonsky Almost two years of work by the University's HIV/AIDS Task Force will come to fruition today, when a conference called "AIDS and the Penn Family" is held on campus in honor of the World Health Organization's World AIDS Day. An annual event started in 1988, World AIDS Day aims to raise public awareness of the illness and spur response to it. According to World Health Organization literature, the current rate of infection is approximately 5,000 cases a day. Formed in 1992, the University's HIV/AIDS Task Force released recommendations in March that were based on its work during the 1992-93 academic year. The Task Force was comprised of three committees that examined education, services and policy regarding students, faculty and staff -- or their family members --who have HIV and AIDS in the University community. Recommendations included using a multi-media approach to education, expanding campus-wide communication about HIV and AIDS and ensuring that all information regarding a person's test results remains confidential. Today's conference is the culmination of the committee's work and represents the University's efforts to accommodate and actively respond to those affected by HIV and AIDS. Going beyond the medical issues related to the illness, the conference includes several workshops that address living with HIV, teaching and learning about it, and helping employees deal with AIDS in the workplace. Nursing sophomore Chris Friese, who served on the conference committee, said everyone can learn something from the event. "I think that people are knowledgeable about AIDS isolated in itself," Friese said. "But there are issues other than transmission that the conference has highlighted." Associate Vice Provost for University Life Larry Moneta said because consciousness of AIDS on campus has been raised in recent years, discussion about the disease has been temporarily tabled. "In a lot of areas, where HIV and AIDS used to be the focus, they're not [anymore]," he said. "It's not because it's not an issue anymore, it's because there's a sense of 'what more can we say about this?' "The conference is to remind people that we will be affected by HIV for a long time," Moneta added. Kurt Conklin, a University health educator and advisor for the student group Facilitating Learning About Sexual Health, said he has also noticed a change in the popular perception of AIDS and its victims. "More people are asking now where they can get tested and how much it costs," said Conklin. "Before, they would ask things like 'am I in danger through kissing?'" Robert Schoenberg, coordinator of the Program for the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Community at Penn and chairperson of the Task Force's Policy Committee, said a survey conducted by the Task Force last spring revealed a lack of sympathy within the University's working environment for employees affected by HIV and AIDS. Changes since then have been mainly related to personal attitudes, rather than official policy, he added. As department heads are becoming more aware of what living with HIV or caring for someone with AIDS involves, for example, they are more willing to give affected individuals flexible schedules or time off. The University also allocated space at the Dental School last year for a free and anonymous AIDS testing site. Linda Grier, who administers the tests and counsels recipients before and after results are available, said approximately 15 people -- nearly 90 percent of them students -- utilize the site each week. However, tests are offered only one day per week. Grier said most of the people she counsels are heterosexual couples.

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