'Slapdash' does disservice to HIV issues, patients

I am writing in response to Thursday's "Slapdash" comic in which a man tells a woman, "Good news! I passed my test," and shows her an HIV-positive test result. I am used to "Slapdash" being tasteless, but this comic is crude and offensive and shows the cartoonist's terrible ignorance of HIV issues.

HIV is definitely not over in the U.S. and is not only a "gay disease." There are HIV-positive people of every demographic group in Tucson and on our campus. Students who do not protect themselves can contract HIV, just as they can other STDs. There is nothing humorous about an HIV test. Many people are fearful of HIV testing and its results can be devastating. In the U.S., treatment is available, but an HIV-positive test result still guarantees a painful death from AIDS. Making light of the situation is insensitive to all people who are courageous enough to find out their HIV status. [Read article]

Remember and learn

One year ago today, we experienced evil. Upset over struggles in class, a disgruntled student killed a nursing professor in her office, then killed two more of his teachers in front of a classroom full of students, before finally turning the gun on himself.

Though the shootings didn't seem to resonate as much as one might have expected - students on the main campus seemed to feel distanced from the tragedy - they still left an important mark on the UA. [Read article]

Today we look back on a day defined by horror on which three nursing professors were murdered at the UA. But this event, though tragic, was not the first time an incident has spawned campus wide terror.

Every student, faculty and staff member on campus is affected by the Davis-Monthan air traffic, which many times throughout the day makes the UA feels like a war zone. Nearly every day in between classes, students have the opportunity to gawk at the jets that lurk over campus. [Read article]

One year has passed since the tragic day that Robert S. Flores Jr., a student in the nursing college, calculated and coldly murdered three associate professors of the college - Robin Rogers, Barbara Monroe and Cheryl McGaffic - then took his own life.

Today we celebrate the lives of Robin, Barbara and Cheryl, and the legacy those three nurses left behind. Let us keep them and their family and loved ones in our thoughts. Dean Isenberg of the nursing college put it best: "This is a time to celebrate the healing process." This is a hard day for me and for many at this school ... and a hard situation to address. [Read article]