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Watkins Health Center will offer free HIV tests for University students on Sept.15 and 17
ALANA FLINN
@alana_flinn
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1.2 million people aged 13 and older are diagnosed with HIV in the United States, with 156,300 people unaware of their infection.
Because HIV is a pressing concern, Watkins Memorial Health Center is offering free testing on Sept. 15 and 17 to help students detect the infection earlier. Students can walk in without an appointment from 8 a.m.to 5 p.m.
Douglas Dechairo, chief of
staff for Watkins, said early recognition is important in treating HIV and AIDS.
"You want to treat people before their immune system becomes impacted," Dechairo said. "If we can see someone with no symptoms, but gets a positive result, it will save a lot of disease and disability."
To test, a staff member swabs a student's mouth. The test results usually come back in 40 minutes, Dechairo said. If the test is positive, the staff member would recommend a blood test to ensure accuracy.
The Douglas County AIDS Project used to administer free HIV tests. However, DCAP
closed its doors in July 2014 because the medical community had become better equipped to deal with HIV and AIDS, according to its website. The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department offered tests last year. When fewer students got tested at the health department than at DCAP, Dechairo decided students would be more likely to participate if the free test was offered at Watkins.
Student Senate will fund the free HIV testing, using 8 cents of the Student Health Services fee that every student pays. Students can also get tested for chlamydia, gonorrhea and
Paige Davis, a junior from Lenexa who is studying nursing, said college students don't always realize the importance of getting tested for HIV.
syphilis for $88.
"Although it's not as common as it used to be, HIV is still prevalent in society today," Davis said. "It is also easy to transmit from one person to another because people don't get the proper testing and usually aren't aware that they have this disease until it's too late and they've already given it to someone else."
HIV is mainly passed on by having sex or sharing drug needles with someone who
is infected, according to the CDC. It cannot be spread by casual contact like shaking
"When you think about 180 students out of the student body, more should be tested"
DOUGLAS DECHAIRO Chief of Staff for Watkins
tered the tests, he said the organization saw about 180 tests each year. He said he hopes to see this number increase now that the test is offered at Watkins.
hands.
"When you think about 180 students out of the student body, more should be tested," he said.
Dechairo said the number of students getting the free HIV test was down to 40 or 50 last year. When DCAP adminis-
The free HIV testing will be offered again in December and for the entire month of April.
— Edited by Minami Levonowich
SENATE FROM PAGE 1
ecutive board member must attend full senate to vote on fully passing each bill. A bill must be approved by at least two-thirds of the senators to pass in full Senate.
STUDENT SENATE BUZZWORDS AND WHAT THEY MEAN
Coalition: A coalition is an alliance of students who run and, if elected, work together toward a set of platforms or goals.
Platforms: Initiatives or goals that coalitions want completed during their time in term.
Executive Board: The executive board consists of the following 12 positions- student body president, student body vice president, chief of staff, communications director, development director, government relations director, treasurer, assistant treasurer, transportation director, director of diversity and inclusion. graduate affairs director, center for community outreach executive director and center for community outreach managing director.
Legislative cycle: The new legislative cycle takes place every two weeks, and it encompasses the committees and full Senate meetings. Each cycle begins with committee meetings, and full Senate follows the week after.
Committees: The four committees — Finance, Student Rights, Multicultural Affairs and University Affairs are responsible for hearing bills and legislation that apply to that committee. For example, a bill requesting funding would be seen in Finance.
The Finance Committee reviews all legislation authorizing expenditures from the Student Senate activity fund, which funds organizations and groups on campus. The committee also oversees University student fees. Tyler Childress is
the chair; Mady Womack is the vice chair.
Student Rights oversees the Student Senate rules and regulations and handles all issues affecting student rights. Madeline Dickerson serves as the chair; Matte Carter is vice chair.
The Multicultural Affairs Committee ensures the decisions and policies of senate fairly serve all students, particularly those who identify with underrepresented groups. Bahar Barani is the chair of student rights, and Elise Gao is the vice chair.
The University Affairs Committee deals with issues that directly involve aspects of student life and campus programming, such as handling issues that arise during the year on campus. Lauren Arney is the chair, and Harrison Baker is the vice chair.
Resolution: A non-binding resolution is when the Student Senate makes its opinion known about a certain situation, whether that be through a release or other public forum.
Bill: A bill covers anything that the Student Senate code allows to be regulated, like funding.
Senators: Each group has a certain number of senators based on the size of the category or organization they represent. These senators are responsible for communicating with their constituency and representing their interests.
The number of senators and categories represented are as follows: two architecture, planning and design senators; three business senators; two education senators; three graduate senators; two journalism and mass communications senators; two law senators; 14 junior and senior class senators; 14 freshman and sophomore class senators; two music senators; two pharmacy senators; two social welfare senators; one on-campus senator; five off-campus senators; two non-traditional senators; three international undergraduate senators; and six engineering senators.
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