Is AIDS a big deal?

  Is AIDS a big deal? Image

To those infected with AIDS and various health professionals, the answer to the question that I asked myself one month ago would be poignantly and unfortunately obvious however, due to factors such as my religion and education, the answer was not so blatant, so I asked the question: is AIDS a big deal?  My curiosity into the disease started when I was shopping with my mom over winter break.  We were in the clothing store Gap and there was an advertisement at the register; a new line of clothing titled “RED” had just been released and profits from the sales went to AIDS research.  What a coincidence, I thought; I’ll be taking a class on AIDS next semester while simultaneously a prominent clothing line is launching an AIDS/ RED themed clothing line.  A few days later, I went to the Apple Store to look for a new iPod.  While I was perusing the wide selection, a observed something new: a Red iPod, created in an effort to raise AIDS awareness with a portion of the profits going to AIDS research.  Wow, I thought, this AIDS theme is everywhere.  My witnessing of a new trend, a combination of humanitarianism and consumerism provoked me to ask the question, which quite frankly, came out as: Is this AIDS theme just a way for people to ameliorate the guilt that accompanies purchasing a plethora of expensive goods? A way to mitigate the dubiousness of spending such an excessive amount of money, for now people can think, “I don’t have to feel so bad about buying this; some of the money is going to help AIDS victims”?  Or, was this “coincidence” of my AIDS class, an AIDS line at Gap, and a Red iPod at the Apple store indicative of a larger, global issue?  In other words, is AIDS a big deal?

 

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Estimates for AIDS in Erie County
The Real Numbers for Erie County
Cumulative AIDS Cases for Zipcodes
Gender, Race, and Mode of Transmission

 
Catholicism and Education
AIDS in The Buffalo News
Focus on Female Cases of AIDS

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