Taylor House/Arizona Daily Wildcat Rep. Jim Kolbe speaks at the "AIDS 2006: Forecasts and Future Leaders in the Fight" forum Saturday morning. The forum was designed to increase AIDS awareness on campus and showcase what the Tucson community is already doing to fight the epidemic.

Erasing the ignorance associated with HIV/AIDS was Rep. Jim Kolbe's focus when he addressed students, faculty and community members in a forum organized by UA students Saturday.

Prevention, awareness, impact and funding were a few of the issues opening speaker Kolbe talked about at the "AIDS 2006: Forecasts and Future Leaders in the Fight."

"We want to make students not only (be) aware of, but become involved in, what is one of the major moral and health issues in the world," Kolbe said during his speech. "HIV and AIDS remind us that we are part of a much more interconnected world; a world that is fragile and needs leadership."

Kolbe pledged to "help educate a successor in Congress to pick up the fight" because this will be his last term in Congress, and he is involved in many committees that affect the amount of funding the federal government uses in foreign aid and the fight against HIV/AIDS, he said.

Several students from the African Students Association performed a short skit illustrating how ignorance is "the feeding ground of AIDS" and how it is a major factor in the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Many of the students who attended were concerned about where they fit into the global picture, and how they could raise awareness locally. Emcee Jennifer Kasper, president of Doctors for Global Health and a clinical assistant professor in family and community medicine, addressed some of their concerns.

"If we look at Arizona, there are thousands of people affected, and so much of what we can do has an immediate effect," Kasper said. "We need to get away from this dichotomy of the problem existing 'out there.'"

The local religious community has also had an enormous impact on spreading the knowledge about HIV and AIDS, she said.

"The role that our religious community plays is not to be dismissed. Their role in global health in general can be enormous - both good and bad," she said. "It's commendable that we have religious organizations involved today."

Lauren Tichy, a psychology sophomore, came to the forum because she was involved in volunteer activities relating to HIV and AIDS.

"I'm interested in the epidemic, advocacy and prevention of AIDS," she said. "I think this is a great opportunity for students, and it's important to educate yourself, spread the knowledge, and encourage people of the same age to do so as well."

Other than eradicating the ignorance associated with HIV/AIDS, some of the other issues discussed were prevention, awareness, community involvement, needle exchange, sex workers and the role of local organizations.

"One of the goals of this forum is to present myriad issues in HIV/AIDS in prevention and transmission," said John McElligott, a recent master of public health graduate and one of the organizers of the event. "The role of students is to educate fellow students and faculty to raise awareness and to call upon elected officials to increase funding locally and nationally." The forum, held in the Manuel T. Pacheco Integrated Learning Center, was organized by McElligott, anthropology and public health graduate student Michelle Gamber, sociocultural anthropology graduate student Micah Boyer, molecular and cellular biology senior Kyle Tiemeier, molecular and cellular biology senior Sanjay Sinha and health education senior Laura Reichhardt.