An artful tribute to victims of AIDS

Today, the Button -- a prominent Penn symbol -- will be draped in black in recognition of World AIDS Day. Since 1988, December 1 has been designated World AIDS Day in an attempt to heighten awareness, education and research about the AIDS virus, or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. And through lectures, art work and a memorial service, members of the Penn community are also working to help acknowledge today's importance. "[The day] is meant to educate people about the alarming growth of AIDS worldwide," said Kurt Conklin, who works in Penn's Office of Health Education. The Queer Student Alliance covered the Button last night at midnight as part of A Day Without Art-- an event that is held in conjunction with World AIDS Day. College of General Studies junior Jay Wahl, the head of the QSA, explained that covering works of art is meant to "symbolize the loss the artistic community has suffered due to AIDS." The day's featured event will be an address given by noted poet Mark Doty at 4 p.m. this afternoon at the ARCH building. The talk is being sponsored by several organizations, including the Penn Center for AIDS Research, the English Department and the Office of Health Education. Students will also be on Locust Walk handing out red ribbons, selling baked goods and taking donations to raise money for AIDS research. Because the day is also meant to commemorate those who have died from AIDS, a memorial service will be held at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania at 5:30 p.m. this evening. Wahl explained that it was important that the campus community be aware of today's significance, especially because college-aged heterosexual women and homosexual men are among the groups most at risk for HIV infection in the United States. "We wanted to do something to get the campus involved," he said. "Everybody walks by [the Button.]" Conklin also emphasized the need for AIDS awareness on campus. "[World AIDS Day] reminds people that anyone can be affected by HIV," he said. In 1991, when basketball star Magic Johnson publically admitted he was infected with HIV, students were more cognizant of the risk, Conklin explained. Today, however, with the advent of new medications and treatments, many people have developed a false sense of security and are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior. It is difficult to estimate the effect that AIDS has had on college campuses in recent years since the last national survey to determine the number of students infected with HIV was conducted in 1989. That survey suggested that anywhere between one and 250 to one in 500 college students are infected.

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