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March 27, 2003

AIDS Awareness Week events set for april 7-11

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – To bring renewed recognition to the global AIDS epidemic, the Purdue Student Union Board is sponsoring AIDS Awareness Week on April 7-11.

The week will feature a series of events designed to make Purdue students, faculty, staff and the community more aware of the issues related to HIV and AIDS.

A main attraction of the week will be the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt exhibit. An international memorial to those who have died of AIDS, the exhibit will run from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. April 7-11 in Purdue Memorial Union, Room 118. An opening ceremony for the exhibit will take place at noon on April 7 in the union's Great Hall.

The NAMES Project Foundation displays portions of the quilt worldwide to encourage a better understanding and response to the AIDS epidemic, to provide a positive means of expression for those grieving the death of a loved one and to raise funds for people living with HIV and AIDS.

The display will feature 10 3-by-6-foot panels, each commemorating the lives of people who have died from AIDS. The complete AIDS Memorial Quilt includes more than 42,000 panels from all 50 states and 40 foreign countries.

The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. "Common Threads," a documentary film about the quilt, won an Academy Award in 1990.

Volunteers are needed to staff the quilt display at hourly time slots. Interested individuals should contact the Boiler Volunteer Network at (765) 494-8864, bvn@purdue.edu.

Other events include:

• April 8, 7 p.m. Purdue Memorial Union-North Ballroom – Rebekka Armstrong, an HIV survivor, will talk about her life with HIV.

• April 9, 6 p.m. Civil Engineering Building, Room 1252 – The movie "And the Band Played On," which focuses on HIV and AIDS, will be shown, followed by a discussion led by Student Wellness Office staff.

• April 10, 6:30 p.m. Beering Hall of Liberal Arts and Education, Room 2290 – David A Sanders, a science professor at Purdue, will present a speech entitled "Hope For the Future, A Search for a Cure." Sanders will discuss the design of anti-HIV antivirals and gene therapy.

• April 10, 7:30 p.m. Stewart Center, Room 313 – A forum entitled "Involving Safer Sex" will be provided by the University of Kentucky's Peer to Peer intervention program staff. The forum is sponsored by Delta Lambda Phi, the Purdue Equality Alliance, ALLY, and the LesBiGay Network.

• April 11, 8-10:30 p.m. Morton Community Center, 222 N. Chauncey Ave. – "Naughty & Nice – A Benefit Dance for the Damien Center" will take place.

The dance is sponsored by the Damien Center and Delta Lambda Phi. Proceeds will benefit the Damien Center, an Indianapolis based HIV/AIDS service organization that has operated in Indiana for more than a decade. Tickets, which will be sold at the door, are $5 for Purdue students and $7 for the public.

Brian Chew, PSUB director of the Ideas and Issues Committee, says he hopes the events convince the Purdue and Greater Lafayette communities that AIDS remains a critical national and global problem.

"According to BBC news, in just two decades the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has infected more than 42 million people," Chew says. "In 2002, 5 million people were newly infected with HIV. That's about 10 people every minute. Approximately 800,000 of them are children. The numbers are rising annually, and people need to be aware that AIDS is a real problem that affects the human race."

For more information about AIDS Awareness Week, contact the Purdue Student Union Board at (765) 494-8976.

CONTACT: Sara Solloway, PSUB program director, (765) 494-8907, solloway@purdue.edu; Brian Chew, (765) 494-8976.

NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: The media are invited to cover all AIDS Awareness Week events. To make arrangements, contact Sara Solloway at (765) 494-8907.

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu


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