HIV/AIDS awareness needed at the UA

HIV has been around for decades, and many of us know “”enough”” information about the virus. What never stops surprising me is how most people still think they are “”not at risk.”” In preparation for World AIDS Day, which takes place Dec. 1, a group of people and I were handling materials on the UA Mall to promote different AIDS-related events that will take place throughout the week. For the most part, students just walked by attached to their cell phones or iPods, or just wrapped in their own thoughts. Few students actually cared to grab the informational flyers, and even fewer actually had questions about the events going on.

While I understand that right now students have many other things in their minds, like finals, I do not understand why some students will actually go out of their way to make fun of AIDS/HIV. One student even had the audacity to pull out his camera phone and record one of the guys who was laying on the floor representing the many people who have died due to AIDS, all while adding witty comments. Other students were polite enough to orally communicate their disinterest in the issue.

Here is a fact: Whether you think it or not, you are at risk of becoming infected with HIV. In fact, more than half of the new infections in Pima County occur in people under 25, people who probably were too na’ve to think AIDS could “”happen”” to them. A lot of people do not care enough about AIDS because it has not affected them, either directly or indirectly. I hope that AIDS never does get to them, because if it does, they will learn the hard way how important events like this are.

One last thing I must mention: I hope AIDS never reaches any of you, your family members or your friends, but to assume my hopes will become a reality is rather na’ve. While you might be lucky enough to be part of a social network free of AIDS, things can change drastically when least expected. Until then, feel free not to care, feel free to use your free time to do whatever it is you do, but DO NOT use your free time to make fun of something as serious as AIDS and the people who are putting up a fight against it.

-Cesar Egurrola
junior majoring in psychology and sociology

Give me a break!

As an out-of-state student, I believe that the Thanksgiving break should be a week long. For out-of-state students, an airplane is the only way of getting home. Round-trip airplane tickets can be very costly; for an example, a round-trip ticket to Seattle from Tucson can cost over $800. By making the Thanksgiving break a week long, the price of airfare would be a lot less because leaving on the Friday before Thanksgiving is not considered Thanksgiving, thus making prices for airfare hundreds of dollars lower. By making Thanksgiving a week long, students and staff would not have to deal with the crowded airports and long waits that come with holiday travel. I mean, who does not want to have a week off of school compared to the two days off?

-Megan Graves
pre-business freshman

What’s on your coffee table?

After almost 70 years, the Supreme Court has finally taken a case to examine the constitutionality of gun rights. Many anti-religion crusaders scream themselves hoarse quoting Thomas Jefferson on separation of church and state, but they seem to forget that their patron saint also believed in every citizen’s right to own personal firearms. In fact, the intent of the Founders was not that only militias could keep guns. Simply consulting a copy of the Federalist Papers, which every American should keep on their coffee table next to the Constitution, will clearly show that the writers of said Constitution clearly intended for the rights of law-abiding citizens to own guns never to be infringed on even the slightest. So, the Supreme Court will hopefully take into account the words of our nation’s fathers when deciding this case next year. Perhaps those hypocritical liberals like the Brady Campaign will finally lose their battle against the Constitution, and criminals will no longer be safe breaking into unarmed homes.

-Alex Hoogasian
political science senior