Karina Gonzalez
Steve Bolan wakes up every morning and takes a drug cocktail that would put Courtney Love to shame. Like so many other young people in the ’60s and ’70s, he led the life of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, and now he’s paying the price.
Bolan works for Being Alive, spreading awareness of the disease he has lived with for more than half his life. Now 64, he is one of the lucky ones.
In the spirit of HIV/AIDS Awareness Week, we as students, as responsible citizens and as creatures in our sexual primes ought to be more informed of the dangers so relevant to our lives.
Though knowledge of the disease is spreading among young people in this country, the numbers are not dropping. Its demographics are simply changing.
Once thought to be a gay-specific disease, or “the gay cancer,” rates of infection among young black women are skyrocketing.
In 2004, HIV/AIDS was the leading cause of death in black women ages 25-34, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nevermind the fact that recent advancements with inhibitor medications may significantly extend the lives of those diagnosed-at a cost of roughly $2,000 per month and dozens of nasty side effects-there is still a painful price to be paid for sexual recklessness.
These drugs are known to cause fever, rash, body aches, diarrhea, vomiting, dry mouth, weight loss and abnormal redistribution of body fat.
Apart from this overwhelming stupidity which plagues youths in America, inadequate awareness campaigns are also at fault.
Australia has taken a bold approach to the challenge of getting the word out. Their “street talk” awareness campaigns target young people by speaking to them in language they understand.
For example, a billboard may read, “If you take it up the ass without a condom, you’re gonna get AIDS.”
In the Puritanical States of America, however, we like euphemisms. Driving through Hollywood, you find vague billboards simply stating “know HIV/AIDS,” or signs suggesting that it might be a good idea to get tested every six months.
If we can’t be completely honest with ourselves about the epidemic, there can be no eradication thereof.
Be it ignorance or indifference, “young and horny” does not have to mean “stupid.” As the educated minority of our generation, it is in our hands to stop the spread of the AIDS virus.