OCR Text |
Show Friday, Dec. 2, 2011 Utah "Campus Voice Since 1902" • Utah State University • Logan Utah • ww t. hst:Ite mari..som Today's Issue: THOM n VA* Campus News 4 STEPHEN FOLT7. 4 David Sharpton A union leader gave students tips to help them advance in their schooling and careers. Page 3 PANELS OF THE AIDS MEMORIAL QUILT were displayed in the TSC Ballroom this week, leading up to World AIDS Day Thursday. The quilt tradition, founded in 1987, is the largest ongoing community arts project in the world. There are more than 40,000 panels, each representing a life lost to AIDS. The week concluded with the World AIDS Day Interfaith Service and Candlelight Vigil at St. John's Episcopal Church. DELAYNE LOCKE photo Features Students recognize AIDS as local issue BY ROSS NELSON staff writer "Twentieth Century" is one of USU's last performances of the semester. Page 4 Sp orts In the 1980s, it was crudely referred to as "The Gay Plague." Now, 30 years later, HIV/AIDS is known to transcend all gender, race and sexual orientation boundaries. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1 million Americans are HIV positive, and roughly 34 million people worldwide live with HIV or AIDS. USU students were given the opportunity to confront HIV and AIDS issues this week by viewing the AIDS Memorial Quilt and screenings of the film "We Were There," a film about the early AIDS crisis in San Francisco. Wednesday, a corn- munity panel featuring Wayne and Sandra Schow discussed how the face of AIDS has changed in recent years. Thursday evening, an interfaith candlelight vigil was held at St. John's Episcopal Church in memory of AIDS patients who have died. While Utah still has relatively low numbers of reported HIV and AIDS cases, the disease's devastating effects still impact some USU students. "There was nothing that could have prepared me. I thought there was no way — no how — I could ever have HIV," said Stewart Robinson — whose name has been changed for confidentiality — an out-of-state transfer student in his sophomore year at USU. He tested positive for HIV in 2008. "I thought I was invincible. You know, like you do when you're 17," Robinson said. Robinson said he visited his family physician after losing weight, experiencing night sweats, and experiencing fatigue for a few weeks. After two days of testing, he was diagnosed with HIV. He said he's been reluctant to talk about his illness at USU because of local public attitude toward HIV and AIDS. "It has definitely been tough to make a go of it here in Logan," Robinson said. "I mean come on — I'm gay, I have HIV — how much more taboo could I possibly get? But it shouldn't be that way," Robinson said. "Things need to, and will, change." Robinson said dealing with these health problems have made things difficult for him. Frequent visits to health care professionals, and many medications through the course of his lifetime, will cost more than an estimated $300,000. Despite the high cost and the inconveniences, Robinson's life expectancy is close to average for his demographic. Health concerns are not what Robinson said trouble him the most at this point in his life, rather, it is his relationships that seem to suffer most at the hands of the virus. "It's such a delicate thing — getting to the point where you need to tell someone you love about this virus," he said. "I've always tried to tell myself that if they are upset and our relationship changes, they were never worth it. "On the other hand, if they are willing to carry on a relationship with me regardless of anything like that, they are definitely someone I want to keep around." In a perfect world, Robinson said, there would be no HIV. "Beyond that, it shouldn't matter," he said. "The real deal here is that it does not matter what kind of virus you have or what color your skin is, or if you are gay or straight or anything at *See AIDS, Page 3 Pike suspension ends, back in action BY CHRIS LEE news senior writer Men's basketball team lost in the Spectrum for the first time since Dec. 5, 2009. Page 8 Interact Now! Today: As Spectrum behavior is debated, here's a walk down memory lane: Added Value! 3 IEEE • • ■••••••••71 Crossword Puzzle ■ .■..■■ . .E• ■ •MEN•EMM •• M i•••••i•• ■ •• •• • • ■ Across 2 Having a furniture sale for students 3 New band. coming Saturday 4 Has a 30-foot statue in his honor 6 Star of 4-0 soccer action 8 Thursdays site of the Week Have you tried our w crossword puzzle? You can win restaurant certificates just by filling it out! 7. ° Zbject of Chris Rose's talk 2 Wants water dispensers in TSC 5 Freshmen. always 'hangs out 7 Connections Book 9 Gives S20 gift to ail students age II Online exlusives, blogs, a place to comment on stories, videos and more. Free Classfieds, too. www.utahstatesman.com The suspension Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity imposed by its national organization was lifted in early November. Since then, the fraternity has operated as usual with a few minor exceptions according to Christopher Walsh, the USU chapter president. Pi Kappa Alpha, cornmonly referred to as Pike, was indefinitely suspended from the Greek Council by USU Administration earlier this fall, after an incident involving a minor in possession of alcohol. The fraternity's national organization also suspended its charter while to conduct an investigation. "The national suspension was a 30-day suspension," Walsh said. "They just wanted to find out what the investiga- tion came out with and to see if we did violate any of their standards. And after the 30 days, they came to the conclusion that we didn't violate any of their standards and that we could still be a chapter." Walsh said once the suspen- munity service and does everything other fraternities do, with a few exceptions, because the fraternity's pledgeship was pushed back. Dave Thomas, who was recently elected as the next Pi Kappa Alpha president, said the sion from the national organization ended, the fraternity resumed functioning as a Greek fraternity. He said it holds weekly meetings, participates in com- fraternity brothers still tried to bond together during the suspension. "Without having a charter we're basically not really allowed to operate as a chap- ter," Thomas said. "We can still be a group of guys who like to hang out together, and we all are friends, so in that time we really tried to keep the brotherhood strong." Thomas said the fraternity members tried to prevent themselves from getting demoralized during the suspension and bonded together with activities such as bowling and brotherhood dinners. "(We did it) just to keep guys involved and let them know that we're going to make it through this," Thomas said. "And although we've been derailed, we're going to get back on our feet." Thomas said the biggest setback for the fraternity this semester was being barred from recruiting new members due to the suspension. With See PIKES, Page 2 Psychology prof. conducts PTSD study with teens BY ARIANNA REES staff writer Two researchers from the USU psychology department are currently working to find more efficient treatment options for adolescents with post-traumatic stress disorder and trauma symptoms. Michelle Woidneck, a doctoral student in the psychology program, and Michael Twohig, an assistant professor in the department, are holding treatment sessions for adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17. Woidneck said they hope to discover trauma treatment options that are more acceptable for teenagers. PTSD occurs when patients have been exposed to a traumatic event in their lifetime, Woidneck said. She said about 25 percent of the U.S. population has been proven to be exposed to some kind of traumatic event by the age of 16. Violence of any kind is one type of event that can traumatize individuals, she said. In a study conducted by the Child Trends Database in 2008, it was discovered more than 60 percent of adolescents younger than age of 17 had been exposed to physical violence in the past year. Children are also more likely than adults to experience or witness violence, which could impact their trauma levels, according to the database. "It could be war, it could be combat, it could be an assault, it could be a motor vehicle accident or surviving a natural disaster," Woidneck said. "Or it could be witnessing these things and not being directly involve with it." Some people are able to move past the trauma, but others have a more adverse response, she said, See TREATMENTS, Page 3 ADOLESCENTS SUFFERING FROM post-traumatic stress disorder are the subject of a new USU study. CURTIS RIPPLINGER photo illustration |