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Living With AIDS
groups (over three people) has never been appealing to me. I think a lot of the people
at the initial reading were there out of curiosity. After listening to the readings and
feeling the honesty and power of the material, many of us were drawn into the project.
There was an immediate, strong bonding and a sense that we were all there for the
A writer was conducting interviews with people affected by the AIDS epidemic for a
new project, a play to be called Higher Ground: Voices of AIDS. My prior
experiences of being interviewed on TV stations from Japan to Jacksonville, Florida,
hadn't been extremely rewarding. The questions always seemed to focus on issues of
rejection and fear and death. Definitely not my idea of a pleasant afternoon or what I
needed to say about my own experience. I was even more skeptical of a playwright
who might focus on the same issues and transform them into fatalistic fiction on stage.
I was prepared for my meeting with Rebecca Ranson, ready with my standard
answers to the routine questions. However, I wasn't prepared for one question that she
would ask. It was more of a gentle urging to "tell me how it’s been for you; tell me
what you feel is important for others to know about your experience." I started talking,
thinking she would redirect me after a few minutes. Instead, she just listened to each
word I was saying with concern and interest in her eyes. It seemed like we'd been
talking only a few minutes but it had been over an hour. I left the interview feeling a
sense of relief, with everything in a little better perspective. I wondered how she would
be able to process all the emotions that she would encounter in the interviews to follow.
I never intended to act in the play. I'm not an actor and speaking in front of large
same reasons.
The rehearsals have been many hours of hard work but also quality times of
laughter and sharing. The seasoned actors have guided us, freely sharing their
expertise in their profession. Many of us with AIDS/ARC have renewed bonds that
developed in previous support groups and have begun to establish new ties-and
friendships.
Rebecca did listen to each of our words during those interviews, our voices weave
through the material. And I think for each of us involved in the project, Rebecca has
shown us higher ground.
- John Kappers
John Kappers is a board member of NAPWA (National Association of
People With AIDS) and a staff member of Souther nVoice.
Submissions to Living With AIDS are encouraged. Submissions
should be typed or legibly printed, and no more than 750 words in
length. Mail to: Southern Voice, P.O. Box 54719, Atlanta, Ga.
Updates
U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop
U.S. Government
Addresses AIDS,
Finally
Rockville, A/D-The U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services has scheduled a
publication entitled "America Responds to
AIDS" for mass mailing to 140 million
American households. This attempt to
communicate with all Americans about AIDS
follows by four years a similar British
campaign.'
technically correct phrases, IV drug use and
sexual intercourse (oral, anal and vaginal), has
been labeled weak by many AIDS activists
because it does not use the more direct "street
slang" expressions for risky behaviors.
Government sources, however, quickly
pointed out that a more specific pamphlet
would not have been approved for mass
mailing. Pamphlet defenders are also proud
that the publication is concisely written using
language on a 7th-grade reading level. The
pamphlet is also available in Spanish at no
cost (1-800-344-SIDA.)
"At least (the pamphlet) wasn't so sanitized
it would be totally ineffective," said George
Sinclair, public relations officer for AID
Atlanta.
Beginning with a section titled "What
AIDS Means To You," the pamphlet states:
"Who you are has nothing to do with whether
you are in danger of being infected with the
AIDS virus (sic). What matters is what you
do."
UGA Part of CDC's
AIDS Survey
The University of Georgia has announced
that it will be participating in a Centers for
Disease Control study to determine the
prevalence of the AIDS virus on college
campuses.
UGA will be one of more than 20 schools
across the country to participate in the
anonymous testing program. Other schools
participating are Rutgers University, the
University of Massachusetts and the
University of Texas at Austin.
"This study should assess the prevalence
by region of the AIDS virus," CDC
spokesperson Chuck Fallis said. "It should
heighten the awareness of students as to the
danger of AIDS and be a good way to prevent
the spread of AIDS."
The college study is one of the CDC's HTV
family of surveys that include surveys of
newborn babies, individuals who visit
sexually transmitted disease clinics,
tuberculosis patients and others.
The CDC will be collecting 1,000 samples
of students' blood from each school. The
blood samples will be left over from blood
that was taken for other medical tests and will
be stripped of identification except for age,
race and sex. No blood will be drawn
specifically for the study.
"Students too often see themselves as
invulnerable," Dr. Jacquelyn Kinder told the
Atlanta Constitution. Dr. Kinder is director of
UGA Health Services. "But if we arc able to
show students that (a certain) percentage of
them are walking around campus carrying the
AIDS virus, that gives them some very real
information that they must give some thought
to."
The program began in early May at the
UGA campus in Athens and, according to
Fallis, will be in place at all campuses by the
end of May. Results will be reported by
region only, with no individual school results
being released.
-Sharon D. Blalock
Worldwide AIDS
Cases Increased
72% in 1987
In the May 13th Morbidity and Mortality
Weekly Report , the Centers for Disease
Control disclosed that 84,256 cases of AIDS
had been reported to world-health authorities
as of March 21,1988. That figure,
incomplete for 1987, included 34,913 new
cases of AIDS and represented a 72%
increase over cumulative figures for 1986.
The United States far surpassed any other
country in terms of reported AIDS cases, with
54,233 cases as of March 21 sL Along with
the U.S., 41 other countries in the Americas
accounted for 73% of the world-wide case
total.
Homosexual/bisexual males and
homosexual male IV drug users accounted for
62% of European AIDS cases and 73% of the
U.S. caseload.
Atlanta artist, Barry Gross will be signing prints of three of his works, one of which appears above. Beautifully printed, 23" x 28", the posters cost $20,
one-half goes to PWAS services. Barry will be at the following locations from 10 -12 p.m. through May: Wednesdays - Bar on Peachtree' Thursdays -
Bulldog & Co.,; Fridays - Pharr Library; Saturdays - Deana's One Mo Time; and Sundays at The Armory from 6-11 p.m.. You can contact Gross at
264-9171if you cannot make it to one of the signings.
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