The world around us

It’s time to wake up to the problems in the world and our community. That was the message last weekend, with four separate awareness events targeting Butte County residents.

Education is always a key component to raising awareness. But how do you educate the public on so many different issues? The community hoped to get the word out last weekend on everything from methamphetamine abuse to AIDS to genocide occurring in Sudan. And it did so in different ways—from a silent protest and survey on Darfur at Chico State University to a candlelight walk through downtown Chico commemorating World AIDS Day.

The conclusion to many of the discussions included, simply, talking with friends and family—getting the word out one person at a time. Beyond that, advocates called for passionate people to reach out to others to teach about the dangers of meth and the consequences of unsafe sex, or to write a letter to Congress regarding what’s happening in Darfur.

Here’s a quick primer on the issues at hand:

Keeping the promise

Friday (Dec. 1) was World AIDS Day, marked by a presentation at the Trinity United Methodist Church in Chico and followed by a candlelight vigil/walk through downtown. For the 80 or so in attendance, red ribbons were in the dress code. The evening served both to honor those living with the virus and those who have died, and to affirm efforts to curb the spread of HIV and AIDS.

“Our job is not done,” said Mark Lundberg, Butte County’s health officer. “There are still citizens in Butte County who are acquiring infection.”

Many people transmit HIV to their partners because they are unaware that they are infected, said Michael Bauguess, a doctor with Del Norte Clinics in Oroville who has worked with HIV/AIDS patients for more than a decade. The theme of this year’s World AIDS Day was “Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise.” The promise refers to a pledge made last year by world leaders to reverse the spread of the virus by 2015. There were almost 40 million people worldwide living with HIV at the end of 2005.

“There’s still apathy—young people think it will become a treatable disease, and they aren’t as careful in their decisions,” said Bauguess. He looks to a future of simpler medications but emphasized that there is still no cure. He advocates for widespread testing and getting rid of the stigma attached to getting tested for HIV, which deters many people.

Education is a huge component to reversing the spread of HIV. Hearing individuals’ stories of living with the virus seemed to strike the biggest chord with the crowd that night. The most striking story came from Scott Gruendl, in his final speech as Chico’s mayor.

“On my 30th birthday, my partner died from AIDS,” he began. “And three months later I was diagnosed as HIV positive.” He was moved to tears when recounting his experience telling his mother about the diagnosis. In 2000, he said, he collapsed and had to be hospitalized. He thought he was going to die.

“I’m in no rush to be put on an AIDS quilt,” he said. “I am in a rush to make sure there’s more than enough to put on my panel when my day comes.”

Engaging the community

Hundreds of students, faculty and community members woke up early Saturday morning (Dec. 2) and headed over to Chico State to talk about social issues. As part of an English pilot class on civic engagement, students were asked to research various topics to be presented and discussed at the Town Hall meeting.

After a brief introduction, the crowd dispersed into one of many roundtable groups held in various buildings around campus. There was an opportunity to attend two sessions, which lasted about 45 minutes each. A group of students led each discussion, which ranged in topic from drug use in Chico to crime in the community to genocide in Africa.

“We see the meeting as one means of fostering meaningful engagement among our students,” Professor Thia Wolf, director of the school’s First-year Experience Program, said in a statement. “We hope that some of the discussion sections will permit all participants to arrive at resolutions, calls for action, or other outcomes that will extend the importance of the discussion beyond the meeting place and time.”

Ideas presented at the “Drug Use: Chico and Chico State” discussion included the availability of drugs on campus, the abuse of prescription medications and the merits of the AlcoholEDU online program. The consensus was that if you want drugs, you can find them—especially marijuana and prescription drugs, which are often handed out for free or sold by people who don’t need the prescription.

“The thing I’m really taking from this discussion, which I was not aware of before, is the abuse of prescription drugs like Adderral,” said Bill Loker, dean of undergraduate studies.

Possible courses of action include revamping AlcoholEDU to make it include drug information. It would also have to be more engaging, students agreed. Also checking into prescription policies, especially at the Student Health Center, could help determine why there are so many unneeded meds around campus.

Discussions about “Chico Community, Crime, and Campus Involvement” focused on the area surrounding campus, which has the highest concentration of crimes in Chico. Rapes were a concern, as was alcohol—which inhibits judgment and can make a person an easy target for theft or rape. Increasing street lighting was the obvious conclusion, as was educating students about the dangers in the area.

“I hope that now we can actually begin to address whatever needs to be done [about the various issues],” said Sarah Blackstone, dean of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts. “Nobody has the answer, but we get closer and closer.”

Anti-genocide

On Thursday, Nov. 30, students at Chico State set up booths in the Free Speech Area on campus and staged a silent protest against the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan, in Africa.

The 20 or so students who participated were from the group Students Taking Action Now: Darfur and a genocide class. The goal: to raise awareness on campus about the genocide.

“It’s like Rwanda in slow motion,” said Christina Osborn, co-president of STAND. She said she wanted to become active in speaking out against the genocide after watching the movie Hotel Rwanda. “We have to do something,” she added.

As part of a genocide/mass persuasion class, a number of students decided to take different approaches to educating their peers. Susan Barnett worked on a survey of about 100 students with questions about genocide and how good the school has been at providing information about things like Darfur. One question asked respondents to name five genocides. “Thirty-one people could not name the Holocaust as a genocide,” Barnett said. “That’s amazing to me.”

Other students, like Monica Unhold, chose to tape their mouths shut in silent protest. Signs around them gave statistics on how many people have been killed in Darfur, how many women have been raped and more.

Meth on the mind

The issue Thursday morning (Nov. 30) was one that hits pretty close to home—methamphetamine. The Butte County Sheriff’s Office and the Methamphetamine Strike Force of Butte County held a presentation in honor of the national day dedicated to raising awareness about the drug.

“We got together to honor the day and continue our commitment to methamphetamine-related activities,” said Alice Kienzle, a nurse with the Public Health Department and part of the strike force.

The strike force, which formed in 2004 and includes representatives from many different organizations in Butte County, works to educate the public about prevention and treatment. The group, under the direction of Butte County Sheriff Perry Reniff, met on Thursday, National Methamphetamine Awareness Day, to discuss progress in fighting the drug. Proposition 36, which sends most low-level drug offenders to treatment rather than prison, has been considered a successful tool for meth users.

“One of the goals of the strike force is to create a county-wide central focus on the meth project,” Kienzle said. The group’s Web site has proven to be a powerful educational tool, with information on everything from what the drug looks like to why it is so addictive.

The strike force will meet again in December to set its 2007 goals, which Kienzle expects to include more prevention campaigns. She also reaffirms that “treatment works.”