As a white, heterosexual woman, Jennifer Parks said she is not the typical image of an AIDS patient, but the 50-year-old Holt resident has been battling the disease since 1989.
"It took me a long time to sort all of this out and understand I didn't get AIDS because I deserved it, but because I didn't take precautions as a young woman," Parks said.
Parks was infected by her second husband who participated in risky activities that were unknown to her, she said.
She now speaks at community events, such as today's World AIDS Day observance at the Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbott Road, to educate the public about the causes and effects of AIDS.
In 2003, about 3 million people died from AIDS or complications from the illness. Worldwide, 40 million people are living with the disease, said Patrick Lombardi, director of volunteer services at the Lansing Area AIDS Network.
In the United States alone, there are about 950,000 people living with HIV and 40,000 new infections each year, he said.
Tuesday night about 25 volunteers tied red ribbons around 500 campus trees - each ribbon represents 1,000 U.S. deaths from HIV or AIDS.
Nicole Johnson, a premedical freshman and her friend Shannon College, a zoology freshman, worked together to gather the ribbons around trees so wide their arms could not encircle them.
"More people should be aware about AIDS, it's affecting the entire world and the ribbons might help by catching people's attention," Johnson said.
Knowing sexual partners and practicing safe sex are two lessons Parks said she has learned and shares with others, adding there is no cure for AIDS and the drugs are extremely hard on the body.
"I hear so many people say 'If I get it I just have to take a cocktail,' - this blasé attitude towards drugs and the virus is very alarming to me," Parks said.
In observance of World AIDS Day, Olin Health Center and the MSU Residence Halls Association are offering a variety of activities such as a silent march and demonstration.
Lombardi said education is key in preventing the spread of HIV.
"When we talk about sex in this country a lot of defenses are put up and people are uncomfortable with teaching healthy sexual practices, but we have to educate ourselves and our community about the issues," he said.
The network provides community education and care services for people living with AIDS, financed by federal funds and donations.
According to the 2004 National College Health Assessment, 22 percent of sexually active MSU students have received HIV testing. On campus, 0.2 percent of students have ever tested positive.
Testing is important, said Olin HIV Coordinator Megan Muscia, because people can carry the virus without showing symptoms.
Two tests are now used to check for HIV. Olin generally uses the oral test, but the blood test is used if the person in question has been out of the country or has slept with someone from another country, said Muscia, a kinesiology senior.
This year the theme for the Hannah Community Center World AIDS Day event is "Women and Girls, HIV and AIDS."
In the past two years, the number of cases of women infected with HIV has increased by 25 percent.
"I want young women to use their heads before they get involved with some Romeo who's making the circuit," Parks said.
