Week of Activities at WSU Recognizes World AIDS Day, Dec. 1

PULLMAN, Wash. — A week of activities, including a candlelight vigil, a
keynote speaker and a display of patches from the AIDS Quilt will be part of
Washington State University’s recognition of World AIDS Day, Dec. 1.

During WSU World AIDS Awareness Week, Nov. 29-Dec. 4, there will be a
Dec. 1 candlelight vigil and march on Glenn Terrell Mall. Participants will
gather at
5 p.m. and begin their march at 5:30. It will conclude at the Compton Union
Building Auditorium for a 6:30 p.m. address by Jennifer Jako, a certified
HIV/AIDS educator from Portland, Ore.

An artist, Jako was diagnosed HIV positive in 1991 at age 18. She contracted
HIV from a former boyfriend. According to a White House report, nearly 25
percent of all new HIV infections are estimated to occur in people ages 13-21.

Jako and another HIV positive artist produced “Blood Lines,” an
award-winning documentary film about the HIV/AIDS issue and its impact on
American youth. It has been shown on MTV and will be aired again by the
national cable network again this year, said Jannette Manuel, co-chair of the
Associated Students of WSU GLBTA/Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered
and Allies Committee. “Blood Lines” can be seen at noon on Dec. 3 in a brown
bag film event in the GLBA Program Center, CUB, Room B-19A.

“As an artist and activist, I make HIV a reality. Facilitating honest
communication through public speaking is what helps me fight against this
incurable pandemic. Every time I share my message, I gain some control over
the disease that has eaten away at my immune system,” says Jako, who has
spoken at more than 400 events around the country.

Eight 12-by-12-foot panels from the AIDS Quilt will be displayed from 9 a.m.-10
p.m. Dec. 1 in the CUB Cascade Room 123. On Dec. 2-3 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.,
individual panels will be on display at WSU’s Holland Library and Lighty
Student Services Building, the University of Idaho Library, Pullman Memorial
Hospital and Pullman High School. The panels will be rotated from site to site
over the two days.

Other activities during WSU World AIDS Awareness Week — which is using
the title “AIDS – End the Silence – Listen, Learn, Live!” — include a 7 p.m. Nov.
29 showing of the movie “It’s My Party,” about a gay man dying of AIDS; a
5:10 p.m. Nov. 30 “Rubber Ware” Workshop by the Sexual Information and
Referral Center/Cougars Encouraging Alcohol Awareness in the GLBA
Program Center; and a 9:30 p.m.-2 a.m. Dec. 4 dance at Azia in Pullman.

Sponsors of the activities include the Associated Students of WSU, the
ASWSU Senate, GLBTA, GLBA, the Idaho Washington Rural Health
Consortium, Zeta Phi Beta, the Women’s Resource Center, Health and
Wellness Services, the FILMS Committee, the Coalition of Women Students,
the Graduate School/Office of Research, SIRC/CEAK, LAPS, Human Relations
and Diversity, Human Relations and Educational Services, Azia, Panhellenic
Council, the Office of Multicultural Student Services, the Center for Human
Rights, the WSU President’s Office, and the Wilmer-Davis, Duncan-Dunn and
Community residence halls.

For information about WSU World AIDS Awareness Week, contact the WSU
ASWSU GLBTA Committee at 509/335-4311.

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