The Observer, March 10, 2006
Volume XXXVIII, Issue 20
Student Global AIDS Campaign underway at Case
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Sophomores Kathryn Martires and Nilu Khan, with the help of graduate student Amanda Perkett, have been working hard on the newcampus group Student Global AIDS
Campaign (SGAC). The national organization was founded in February 2001, but the Case chapter is just being born this semester.
The group's appearance is certainly timely. "The pandemic is redefining health and sexuality for our generation," Martires said, "and it is important that we as a campus are actively educating ourselves and the community about it?" SGAC recognizes the efforts to promote AIDS awareness from other groups on campus, such as the medical school, Amnesty International, and the Peer Helper Network. "But, as of now," Martires said, "no cohesive organization exists dedicated solely to AIDS/HIV education and activism."
SGAC will work to educate the campus community with speakers, films, and discussions. However, they also plan to go beyond the campus walls with their efforts. The overall mission is to "encourage activism by contacting government officials about their stances on AIDS issues, questioning the legitimacy of pharmaceutical companies in denying access to medications, and encouraging free AIDS/HIV testing for the campus," Martires said.
On behalf of SGAC, Martires and Khan also recently attended a national conference in Washington, D.C. and met SGAC leaders from campuses across the country. The groups swapped ideas and strategies, and Case's SGAC met individually with other SGAC groups in Ohio to see how they could pool-or-combine their efforts. "We also marched around [Washington] D.C. in protest against unjust AIDS policies, chanting slogans such as 'Pills cost pennies, greed costs lives!'" Martires said. "Our march took us to such locations as the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the offices of Abbott Laboratories (a notoriously greedy pharmaceutical company that prevents the distribution of AIDS drugs in several underdeveloped countries), the White House, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund offices."
"The conference also ended with an optional lobbying day," Khan said. "We met with aides to Senators George Voinovich and Mike Dewine, as well as aides to Representatives Sherrod Brown and Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, and presented them with information about free trade. We asked them to vote against certain free trade acts, such as the U.S.-Thai Free Trade Act, that would prevent citizens of developing countries from cheaply accessing AIDS treatment."
SGAC's first general meeting will be after spring break. Information can be gained through some of their recruitment events, such as letter-writing campaigns in Thwing and Nord, red balloons in Thwing, and flyering.
"We just feel it's very important for everyone on this campus to be aware of the AIDS pandemic," Khan said. "It's something that's going to impact all of us and as college students, we have the responsibility to play a leading role in the struggle against this disease." If you are interested in getting e-mails about the organization, contact Nilu Khan at nilu@case.edu or Kathryn Martires at kmj18@case.edu.
