It’s the most wonderful day of the year on Thursday 2/14: National Condom Day!

Join CU Student Global AIDS Campaign (CUSGAC) and GlobeMed for National Condom Day on February 14th, 2013 from 11:30 AM to 4 PM outside Butler! (Rain location: Lerner Piano Lounge) We will be giving out free condoms and lube, safer sex info, and hot cocoa. You can also join SGAC’s campaign to sign & send valentines to senators asking them to stand up for global health funding and have your picture taken for GlobeMed’s upcoming celebration of World Day of Social Justice (February 20th). Check out the event page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/332926080140896/

In the spirit of National Condom Day, here are some safer sex tips!

1. Make sure you know how to use condoms correctly — always check the expiration date; pinch the tip of the condom while rolling it onto a penis to leave space to prevent breakage; hold onto the base of the condom when withdrawing. Got more questions? Learn more in this very comprehensive guide to condom use: http://www.avert.org/condom.htm

2. Lube prevents condom breakage and can make sex more enjoyable.! There are many kinds to try, but make sure that you use only water- or silicone-based lubricant with condoms (oil-based lubes will destroy condoms).

3. Did you know you can make a dental dam from a condom? Learn how here: http://std.about.com/od/prevention/ht/dentaldamhowto.htm

Stop by on Thursday for more information, free stuff, and to show some love for global health by supporting our campaigns!

I hope your spring semester is getting off to a great start! As a reminder, we still have meetings every week on Wednesdays at 8 PM in the Dodge Room of Earl Hall. If you’re looking for a new way to get involved this semester, we have a lot of events in the works like call-ins to legislators, lobbying visits, writing op-eds, and actions. We would love to have your input at meetings!

See below for info about a great discussion happening on Wednesday evening — join Lambda Pi Chi and Omega Psi Phi to learn more about the AIDS epidemic and its current, very disproportionate effects on communities. A very important discussion to have, as the AIDS epidemic is not over within the US, either. I hope you’ll attend!

Stay tuned for CUSGAC events coming up soon!

this week we are cosponsoring a film screening and hosting a vigil as part of World AIDS Week. Check out the full list of events around campus below.

Also, you can take action on a vitally important push to prevent automatic spending cuts to AIDS programs by calling your members of Congress with the following script:

“Hello, my name is _______ from _______ and am calling as a member of the Student Global AIDS Campaign.
Please inform Representative/Senator ______ that I strongly oppose any cuts to domestic and global HIV/AIDS programs that will result if sequestration occurs at the beginning of January. Specifically, I urge Representative/Senator ______ to demand zero cuts to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria, Ryan White Care programs, and Housing Opportunities for People With AIDS (HOPWA).

Fighting HIV/AIDS is a fully bipartisan issue with strong support from the highest levels of leadership in both the Republican and Democratic parties. At a time when we have the tools and expert consensus to foresee an end to the HIV/AIDS epidemic due to breakthrough science, America cannot afford to go back on its pledge to realize an AIDS-free generation. Cutting foreign assistance for global health will not help us balance our budget but will compromise the lives of millions around the world instantly. Scaling back on our cost-effective programs will weaken global economic development while threatening our national security. A decade of critical investment and American leadership cannot fail now after significant evidence-based progress. We ask that you speak out publicly against any potential cuts and commit to fully funding these life-saving programs.”

—

Wednesday, 11/28

How to Survive a Plague Film Screening
November 28, 2012, 7:00 to 9:30 pm
Italian Academy at Columbia

The film screening will open with a special introduction featuring leading HIV/AIDS activists, including Mark Harrington of TAG and Peter Staley of AIDSmeds (who are both featured in the film) along with ICAP Director Wafaa El-Sadr and Laura Pinsky, founder of the Gay Health Advocacy Project.

How to Survive a Plague is the story of the young men and women who successfully reversed the tide of the AIDS epidemic, demanded the attention of the nation and stopped AIDS from becoming a death sentence.

Reserve your seat to today at http://bit.ly/wad2102.
View the trailer at http://surviveaplague.com/trailer

Thursday, 11/29

Columbia University Epidemiology Scientific Symposium
Eradicating Pediatric HIV: Hype vs. Hope
November 29, 2012
8:30 am – 5 pm
Teatro Room, Italian Academy
RSVP at cuess.org
Lunch will be provided

The symposium series brings together leaders in the field for a full day of discussions on pressing health questions of our time. The topic this year will focus on eradicating pediatric HIV.

Saturday, 12/1 — World AIDS Day

World AIDS Day Luncheon 
Hosted by BSO, Delta Sigma Theta, Columbia NAACP  12PM – Saturday, December 1 – Lerner C555
A discussion on AIDS as a relevant and pertinent disease affecting communities within the African Diaspora. The event will consist of guest speakers, performances, and food. FREE CHIPOTLE.

Vigil for People from Columbia Community who have died of AIDS-related causes
8 PM in Lerner C555

—-
From our friends at the Washington Heights CORNER Project:

Seven Years In Heaven: A WHCP Benefit
Tuesday, December 4th 6-10 p.m.
Cielo Nightclub
18 Little West 12th Street, NYC

Cielo Nightclub has donated their event space and open bar at no cost to WHCP. We will also be rocking a great Silent Auction and have a WHCP merch table.
100% of ticket sales and silent auction purchases will go directly to Washington Heights CORNER Project!

Please purchase your tickets online via Charity Happenings- http://whcp_7_years_in_heaven.charityhappenings.org/ Early-bird, group and special-admission tickets are available.
We apologize that our ticketing pages does not work on phone browsers, please use your computer for a hassle-free check out experience.

—-

Ongoing: CU Dance Marathon

Check out this great event CUSGAC is cosponsoring tomorrow night! Hope to see you there.

Join us for our weekly meeting, at 8:15 PM in the Dodge Room of Earl Hall — every Wednesday, and new members are welcome any time.

Also, on Thursday, check out a screening of United in Anger, a documentary based on oral history about ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), a prolific AIDS activist group formed in NYC but spread around the country that still holds actions today. Here’s the official info:

7 p.m., Thursday, October 11; Satow Room, 5th floor Lerner Hall.

In the second meeting, we had a great brainstorming session about ideas for this semester! After an overview of the issues, we thought about how to address these pressing concerns while incorporating the tactics outlined in our mission: education, advocacy, activism, and service. Check out the brilliant ideas:

• Make a formalized and recurrent community service program, which could also influence the content of our other events.
• Take a field trip to educate ourselves — go to an HIV testing center or syringe exchange program to learn more.
• Focus on World AIDS Day and fewer events rather than a full week to maximize the impact and efficacy of each program. This way, we can also promote and attend other great events happening in the rest of the city.
• Maximize impact of election season — join in or lead protest of candidates.
• Table in Lerner with information about testing campaigns and activism opportunities.
• Participate in Dance Marathon!
• Keep challenging stereotypes as a theme to our work.
• Hold a condom couture (fashion out of expired condoms!) and auction event to fundraise for an organization we are serving.
• Involve the Greek system and other non-health related groups in more of our events.
• Hold more speaker events to discuss various aspects of HIV/AIDS, especially with faculty from the School of Public Health.

We hope you’ll join us tomorrow as we plan more concretely for events and themes to our work this semester (and eat snacks). New members are always welcome, so check it out in the Dodge Room of Earl Hall at 8 PM every Wednesday.

Click the link for the information from a fact sheet passed out at the meeting:

Continue reading →

Our second meeting tomorrow evening will be a preliminary brainstorming session for the semester’s goals and campaigns. Everyone is welcome to share their ideas and help us shape our strategies! Join us at 8 PM Wednesday 9/19 in the Dodge Room of Earl Hall for snacks and ideas.

The meeting will be a bit shorter than usual, as we will head over to our first event of the semester at 9 PM. We are very excited to have Ariel Rojas, founder of the Transdiaspora Network, speak about the group and its work “to create and communicate culturally oriented solutions to the next generation of leaders fighting HIV/AIDS in local communities.” Pizza will be provided and the event will take place at 9 PM in the Satow Conference Room in Lerner Hall (5th Floor).

If you can’t join us for the meeting, you are definitely still welcome at our event. Hope to see you tomorrow evening!

It was great to meet those of you who were able to join us at the first CUSGAC meeting of the semester. Here’s a quick recap of our introductory meeting for anyone interested. We welcome new members at any point in the year, so please do join us at the next meeting if you are interested in helping us shape our campaign for the fall!

We started out by introducing ourselves and discussing the mission of CUSGAC:

• Michelle discussed her experience with direct service. She is a volunteer at the Washington Height CORNER Project, a needle exchange and harm reduction agency in upper Manhattan (currently seeking volunteers — please find more information under “read more” below if you’d like to get involved). Needle exchange programs provide clean needles to intravenous drug users to prevent the transmission of HIV.
• Zach described his work with national SGAC, a network of over 20 other college chapters that helps coordinate multi-school actions, advocacy campaigns, and trainings. He is a member of the national steering committee this year!
• Mel described her experience with activism, and how her initial fears and doubts were unfounded and instead she found an empowering communal experience of holding leaders accountable to demands. It’s become her favorite part of SGAC (though not everyone is an activist, and we do not require you to be — ending AIDS takes all kinds of strategies and people).
• Stephanie spoke about community education, highlighting favorite events from last year such as our discussion about HIV/AIDS and the transgender community as well as the queer community in two of our events from the 30 IN, 30 OUT campaign last year.
• Niki spoke about political advocacy, best exemplified by her visit alongside community advocates and policy experts to lobby Senator Gillibrand about HIV treatment funding. Another success was a call-in campaign last fall, which helped push Senator Schumer to sign on to a Dear Colleague letter urging increased funding for global health programs.

We also watched a video about the progression of HIV within the US, though our work affects both domestic and global policy.

We ended with a reminder that our meetings are open to all, non-hierarchical, and that we value the contributions of everyone. With that in mind, we hope you’ll join us for our next meeting, Wednesday 9/19 at 8 PM in the Dodge Room of Earl Hall!

Continue reading →

We hope you can join us tomorrow, Wednesday September 12th, at 8 PM in the Dodge Room of Earl Hall for our first meeting of the semester. There will be food & giveaways while we explain our mission, our past, and our goals. Join us to learn more about our take on informed political advocacy, activism, community education, direct service, and more in order to engage our peers and fight to end AIDS. Hope to see you there!

If you can’t make our meeting, please send us an email, as we may change the meeting day or time.