Is There A Problem? Part 1

High School Experience

Media Influence

Is There A Problem? Part 1

Is There A Problem? Part 2

Hispanic Perspective

Conclusion

Excel Chart

Works Cited

Though I know how my mindset could have been affected by past factors in my life, the media and my high school experience still doesn’t provide me with an answer to the most important question of all: Is there a problem in my hometown? My answer and opinion on this matter is divided into 3 points of view with the most personal presenting itself later on.

In order to analyze this situation AIDS cases from Onondaga County, New York, and the United States were analyzed. The foundation of this argument is completely dependent on having a fixed standard to compare results to. The fixed standard was information regarding cumulative AIDS rates broken down by race, and male/female AIDS percentages, all on a national level. Nationally, males make up 79.4% of the AIDS cases in America, whereas females make up 20.4%. If you divide it up by race, the cumulative AIDS rate for Whites is 198, 1164 for Blacks and 526 for Hispanics (25). In order to determine whether or not a problem exists, in Onondaga County male and female percentages were calculated and matched that of the national level (1). When it came to male and female percentages, my data roughly matched that of the national level. However, there was a stark difference in the cumulative AIDS rate of my county vs. the cumulative AIDS rate of the country. For all races, in Onondaga County, the race cumulative AIDS rate is roughly half of the national AIDS rates (25). But what does this mean? I believe that this is a clear indicator that compared to the country as a whole; Onondaga County has a considerably lower AIDS rate. Thus, the data suggests a problem does not exist. That’s where the next step in my process presented itself. Why would the AIDS issue be so publicized in my county if it wasn’t an issue?