GRADUATION GUIDE / THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2011 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
Wide range of options available for new graduates
BY CLAIRE MCINERNY editor@kansan.com
As some seniors are preparing for jobs and planning their lives after school,some students are experiencing a different scenario: the end of college panic.
Four yea
degro.
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er. One opportunity that enables students to make that happen is through Teach for America. Teach For America is a program that allows recent college graduates to teach in public schools in low-income communities. The assignment lasts for two years.
Wiechman spent his two years in Saint Lucia doing community development. He helped a farmers' cooperative develop a grant proposal to get funding for a composting project from the United Nations and also taught reading and music at a school.
a way to prolong having to find a job, but rather look at it as a way to find new opportunities and new ways for students to use their passions. She said a lot of politicians who now work in Congress were in the program and are now fighting for education rights.
The Peace Corps was an attraction for Wiechman because
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 2011
PAGE 18
HEALTH
Rapid results HIV test could combat anxiety
BY HANNAH DAVIS
hdavis@kansan.com
Abigail Fletcher uncharacteristically declined a plate of her great aunt's famous fried chicken. For two weeks, she felt tense. Her stomach had been in knots. Her sleep had been minimal. Her life was in limbo.
Fletcher, a Wichita resident, was tested for HIV at the Planned Parenthood Center in Wichita. That was the easy part. Waiting two weeks for the results was hell on earth.
"It is like this secret I carry around all day," she said. "People smile and say hi and I respond as usual but in the back of my mind I am thinking about how my life could change once I get my results."
Fletcher received her results thirteen days, 14 hours and 45 minutes after getting tested. She was HIV negative. Traditional HIV tests, such as blood-draws and oral swabs, can take up to two weeks.
up to two weeks. Olivia Burchett would like to change that in Douglas County.
Rapid results HIV testing produces
results in five minutes but there are no testing facilities offering that service here.
"When people come in to get tested it is usually because they have engaged in risky behavior," said Burchett, a health educator at the Douglas County Aids Project. There is a lot of self-reflection, a lot of doubt and a lot of anxiety. A rapid results test allows clients to know their status immediately."
DCAP is considering offering rapid results tests, which Burchett hopes will be available by the fall.
leave no intention.
Ken Sarber, a health educator at Watkins Health Center, said testing is important but is prevention.
Watkins Student Health Services provides information, including a 10-question worksheet every couple should complete prior to engaging in sexual activity.
Burchett said this is important in Lawrence partly because a large student population increases the prevalence of infection.
She hopes to promote discussion about HIV and safer sex in the Lawrence community.
"Having honest conversations prior to engaging in sexual behavior prevents transmission of diseases and reduces stress and anxiety in the long run," she said.
sexual activity But Burchett said the riskiest behavior sexually active people can engage in is non-communication.
Individuals should remain celibate until they receive their test results. If a person has engaged in risky behavior Burchett instructs patients to abstain
from sex for three months at which point a HIV test can detect the virus. Last year DCAP conducted more than 370 HIV tests. Burchett hopes that providing free tests with quick results will increase that number.
"I don't think I will ever be satisfied with the number of tests we are conducting. These new tests will hopefully bring more traffic our way." Burchett said. "People don't have to sit and worry. They can be honest with themselves, their partners and soon they can know their status in minutes."
Abigail Fletcher said waiting two weeks for her results was torture. Although she would have preferred a more timely result, Fletcher said the experience changed her for the better.
I had two weeks to reflect on the potential consequences of my actions. It was definitely a time full of soul searching." Fletcher said. "It was hell on earth but I'm smarter and stronger for it."
WAIT TIME BREAKDOWN BY TYPE OF TEST
URAL SWAB
98% accuracy
Test takes 5 minutes
Results take 1-2 weeks
Person swabs between their cheek and gums
Test detects HIV antibodies rather than the HIV virus
99% accuracy
BLOOD DRAW
99% accuracy A vile of blood is taken from the patient The blood is sent to a lab to be tested Tests for HIV virus Takes 3-5 days to get results
RAPID RESULTS TEST
98% accuracy
device looks like an hourglass patient pricks their finger on a tack-like apparatus on the test the blood sample mixes with a solution in the test if the solution congeals 2 lines appear in the results window indicating a positive result 1 line indicated a negative result test takes 5 minutes
test takes 5 minutes
results in 5 minutes
All positive test results require a second form of testing to confirm positive result.