Take your first step to conquer AIDS

Today, as many as 1,300 children will die of AIDS.

Today, Dec. 1, is World AIDS Day. Many undergraduates are too
young to remember the early ’80s. Lacking from our memory are
exciting events such as the election of President Reagan ““
Hollywood star turned world leader ““ the Iranian hostage
crisis, outrageous fashions and a booming new drug culture.

Also lacking is the paralyzing fear that came with the discovery
of a new and deadly disease known as Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome. The death of Rock Hudson on Oct. 2, 1985, marked the
first celebrity to admittedly fall to this elusive viral enemy,
forever scarring the American consciousness and awakening millions
to the fact that their lives would be forever changed.

Today, 20 years after its discovery, AIDS has been put on the
back burner. Most people agree that it’s a worthy cause, but
the consensus and initiative stops there. Despite honest attempts
to raise awareness about AIDS through imaginative fundraising
events, these events generally send the message that this fatal
disease is some distant evil that most middle-class, respectable,
heterosexual college students should not have to worry about.

The truth of the matter is that anyone can contract HIV, the
incurable virus that leads to AIDS. And anyone can die of AIDS.

Today, 2,500 women will die of AIDS.

Today we are bombarded with numbers until they cease to have
meaning and simply become nameless figures. What do these facts
mean to you? Just another statistic, so often spoken and so rarely
pondered? But this is somebody’s sister, daughter or
mother.

So often the AIDS pandemic is simply a string of unanswerable
questions, laden with the guilt of a society with sufficient
resources ““ but insufficient desire ““ to help.

Today, 7,200 people will die of AIDS.

Today the students of UCLA are given a unique opportunity.

Today we can send the message to the rest of the world that
young people care, that young people are doing something about this
pandemic, that we are united in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

This fight starts in our classrooms and hallowed halls, from
Bruin Walk to our own dorms or apartments. It is about being
educated. It is about being aware. It is about knowing your own
place in the epidemic and educating others about theirs.

We are supposed to be enlightened students. We have no excuse
for our irresponsible acceptance of such a horrendous disease. We
are in a position to educate our friends and peers, to give advice
from someone they may actually listen to. An attitude of
complacency or, worse yet, thinking that AIDS only strikes the
distant poor, is essentially giving the virus free rein.

Today there will be mobile testing units in Bruin Plaza
administering free, confidential HIV tests to any and all students
who feel ready to step up and take responsibility for their
actions. Responsibility begins with knowledge, and knowledge begins
with action. We can no longer sit and pretend this disease is going
to be taken care of by people in positions of power ““ we are
those people.

Today and every day, the Ashe Center administers free HIV tests
to any student. Burying your head in the sand will simply not work.
The end of this epidemic will start in our own homes and campuses,
our own cities and states. It starts with us and with those around
us.

Today and every day, people are dying of AIDS. And today and
every day, something needs to be done. Start today, World AIDS
Day.

Stevenson is the director of the AIDS Awareness Committee of
the Student Welfare commission.