PIERCE COLLEGE : Anonymous HIV Testing Offered

For the first time in Pierce College history, students will be offered free and anonymous testing for the virus that causes AIDS on Thursday as part of HIV/AIDS Education Week.

To get tested, students will be required to attend a lecture or watch a video about the disease and the virus that causes it.

The HIV testing, which will be available between 9 a.m. and noon in the Campus Center, will be conducted by the Valley Community Clinic. Counselors from the clinic will return to Pierce a week later to give students the test results.

Students who are unable to be tested during those hours can make appointments for tests at the clinic in North Hollywood.

“I recommend anonymous testing because they have pre- and post-test counseling available,” said Michael Dwiggins, a member of Being Alive, a coalition of people with HIV and AIDS. “That can be as important as having the test done. It’s scary stuff.

“There is still a lack of education and information about this disease,” Dwiggins added. “There is still an awful lot of ignorance. There is still an awful lot of fear.”

Dwiggins and about 20 other Being Alive members will give lectures about AIDS and the HIV virus to more than 60 Pierce classes during the week.

“Two semesters ago, about 20 instructors requested classroom speakers. Last semester, 35 instructors signed up. This semester, that number has almost doubled,” said Kevin W. Kopas, the college’s director of media resources and a member of the HIV/AIDS committee that planned the week.

The classroom speakers “will not only give students information about the disease, but also humanize it for them,” Kopas said.

The committee plans to distribute literature and 3,000 condoms to Pierce students throughout the week, Kopas said.

“A Positive Response,” readings of original works by HIV-positive writers, is scheduled at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

David Michael Souleles, health education director at UC Irvine, will present “Sex Matters” at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The presentation, based on Souleles’ work at the university, will be about HIV, perceived risks and personal choices.

Thursday at noon the program, “Passing the Test,” will examine issues surrounding the disease.