DANIELLE FERIS

By Amy Tannenbaum
Contributing Writer

Three speakers discussed their experiences with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) at a forum in PAC 002 Wednesday night sponsored by AWARE.

The forum was part of HIV Awareness Month.

The event’s three speakers, Linda Jordan, John Butler and Debra Norfleet were all Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) educators.

"The panel was really valuable because it helps to learn about HIV in a personal way," said Sadie Wilcox ’00, one of only approximately ten attendees.

The first speaker, Jordan, said she contracted HIV through intravenous drug use fourteen years ago. After breaking free from her drug addiction, she decided to concentrate on educating others about the virus.

"I got to talking about HIV so people could see a human being. After all I was human before anything else. What I did was turn something negative into something positive," she said.

Jordan said she spends time assisting patients with full-blown AIDS.

"I decided not to let another person ever have to die alone or feel like they have to be isolated. I’m fighting AIDS, not people with AIDS," Jordan explained.

Butler, AIDS educator for the Middletown Department of Health, said he was at first reluctant to assume his present position. He said he finally decided to accept it after his brother died from HIV.

Norfleet said she finally got involved in HIV education after surviving years of prostitution, alcoholism, drugs and physical abuse.

"It’s just by the grace of God that I don’t have HIV," Norfleet said.

One student asked Jordan if she had ever encountered discrimination trying to find a job with AIDS. Jordan said she had not because she worked mainly as a volunteer ever since discovering she had the virus.

Another student asked the panelists how much it costs to treat AIDS victims. The panel concluded that medication for one individual costs approximately $250,000 a year.