1. ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY •••~---------------
Iis back
diences
10{ it
o.
nes
UBst law
lIarvard
.lunched a
nising
It to raise
1'(' profes-
-Inss
1I1111Ciai
III
I f'/lcili-
I. experts
I over for
chool,
1'I,tIOI'
Report threatens AS U funding
"Given the claims of
Arizona's higher education
advocates, you would expect"
to see- a robust correlation
between increased state
spending on higher educa-
tion and economic growth;"
he said. "In fact, I found that
there was no consistent sta-
tistically significant correla-
tion."
The University has
responded with a counter-
report complied by econo-
mists and policy analysts,
according to Milton Glick,
executive vice president and
Vicki Murray, an educa-
tion policy analyst for the
Goldwater Institute said the
timing of the report was a
"happy accident" and that it
had been "in the pipeline for
more than one year."
She added that the report
did not target biotech facili-
ties, which is where most of
the funds from the $400 mil-
lion would go. '
While trying to coax the
State legislature, which is in
a billion dollar budget
deficit, to fork over the
m?ney, -A~U President
New vaccine to
.fight bioterror
ASU professor
develops oral
Plague vaccine
.Ages, mainly because of
unsanitary living conditions.
The natural form of Plague
still exists, but is far less
prevalent than it used to be
because of modern antibi-
otics that call fight the dis-
ease as wellas better person-
alhygiene.
The onset of Plague
comes from the bacteria
Yersinia.pestis, which is car-
ried in rodent fleas.
~I
~t
1
i
L
l'
ASU describes
report as a
political move
BYLYNHBUI
THE STATE PRESS
A bill granting Arizona
universities $400 million to
fund research facilities
could be in jeopardy after
the Goldwater Institute
released a report contending
higher education is not
directly related to a state's
economic growth,
BY ANDREW BERNICK
THE STATE PRESS
Most people put tomatoes
on a hamburger or in
spaghetti sauce. ASU plant
biology professor Charles

2. f
11
'I
f
I!
J
8 - THE STAn PRESS - TUESDAY,]UNE '7, ""03
As a university-based
physician, Dr. Gary Septon,
chief of medical staff at ASU
student health services, said
he sees fewer than a half-
dozen cases of gonorrhea a
year. "At the university, we
most frequently find other
sexually transmitted dis-
eases," he said.
More common among his
student patients are genital
warts, herpes and molluscum
contagiosurn, a viral skin
infection that leads to pim- .
ple-like growths, often in the
groin or buttocks.
Septon said he is also con-
cerned about chlamydia, the
most frequently reported
infectious' disease in the
United States, with an esti-
mated three million new
cases each year, although
onlyone in six is reported.
"We have about 100 stu- .
dents come in each year with
chlamydia," Septonsaid.
. Between 1984 and 1997,
reported rates of chlamydia
inc e sed 90-fold due to
diseases is by maintaining a with it.
long-term relationship in Compared to just a decade
which both partner's are ago, gay and bisexual men
monogamous, tested l and _are less concerned about
uninfected. But gay relation- becoming infected with HIV
ships, like heterosexual rela- because medications are so
tionships, don't come with effective in fighting the
lifetime guarantees. . virus, noted Dr. Kimberley
In the late-1990s, scien- Fox in the American Journal
tists gave health education a .oj Public Health. High-risk
desperately needed partner: behaviors, especially anal sex'
improved medications for without a condom, are
treating AIDSand HIV. becoming increasing popular
With "cocktails" of vari- among many men who have
ous drugs, the number of sex with men ..Fox further
people dying of AIDS reported that gay men are
dropped dramatically, as did having more anal sex and-
he has been less wary of
other sexually transmitted
diseases and hasn't bothered
getting tested for them. He
found out he had rectal gon-
orrhea after his partner was
diagnosed with the disease.
"I (had it) and apparently
did not know it because it
was a long time between sex-
ual experiences," he said.
"Then my partner ...got it so I
had to get it taken care of
(with antibiotics)."
His experience hasn't per-
suaded him to practice safe
sex. "Condoms are an HIV
BY JEFFHAMPL
THE STATE PRESS
I
I Gary Smith' is a gay man
I who doesn't practice safe
! sex.
. , "I don't meet people for a
~ sexual encounter; I meet pea-
l ple, and we may end up hav-
,i ing sex," he said. "I'm simply
i not willing to be terrified of
I life and sex.",
i ., Smith has been lucky. He
I. does not have AIDS or HIV
1' He is 35 years old, well edu-
i I cated and works in the health
j care industry.
.; He knows that 60 percent.
:.'~ of new cases of HIV _are
I
' among men who have sex -
! with men.
!I He knows that 50 percent
ii of men with another common
,.j sexually transmitted disease,
!~. chlamydia, show no symp-
toms.
. He knows that men in his
;~ age category - 30 to 39
I.years old -:- are frequently
~ diagnosed with syphilis.
i And he knows that in
'f Phoenix, the proportion of
. : new cases of gonorrhea rep-
resented by gay or bisex~a~.
men increased from 5 per-
. cent_in1998t~ nearly 15per-
Dangerous liaisons
which gonorrhea rates were can cause the testicles to
dropping by 10 percent a become painfully swollen;
year, most likely due to an advanced cases can lead to
increase in condom use, infertility and to blocked
according to the CDC. .urine flow.The disease also is
Scientists at the CDC specu- linked to the spread of HIV,
late that young gay and the CDCwarns. Men who are
bisexual men are largely infected with both HIV and
responsible for the rise of the , gonorrhea are more likely to
disease. pass HIV to someone else
Because it is a bacterial than are men who are infect-
disease spread through sexu- ed with HIV alone.
al contact, gonorrhea is prob-
ably underreported, said Phil Mora common STDs
Powers, an epidemiologist
with the Arizona Department
of Health Services.
STD treatment is
leading to
complacency in gay
men, leaving the
medical community
cringing

3. Sfill:'"Wim"twodecades of
health 'messages behind him,
Smith is not persuaded to use
a condom each time he has
anal sex.
"That's just not something
I see as reasonable," he said.
Growing up gay
Born on an Air Force base
in Idaho and raised in conser-
vative Virgnia, Smith had his
first sexual experience at a
young age. Unlike some of
his friends who are gay,
Smith felt comfortable with
his sexual orientation even as
a teenager.
Being gay and having gay
sex came naturally to him. "I
became (sexually) active
when I was 13;I came out to
my parents when I was 17,"
Smith recalled.
"Somewhere in there, I
thought, 'Oh, yeah. That's
what they call it.'"
Smith turned 13 in 1980;
the next year, cases of a new
disease called AIDS were
first diagnosed. It was an era
of alarm for most gay men.
With an epidemic of deaths
and terrifying prospects of
an incurable disease, many
gay men cut back on their the number of people who
number of sex partners and . progressed from HIV to
stopped having anal sex. AIDS.
But Smith was unfazed. These medications
"I was aware of AIDS out allowed men who have sex
there," he said. "I was sexual- with men a degree of relief.
ly active. (But) I was invinci- But with that relief, however,
ble. It wasn't going to affect has come complacency,
me." according to a report from
Meanwhile, health agen-' the American Public Health
cies bombarded the public Association.
with messages about safe The slump in AIDS-relat-
sex, and the gay community ed deaths has led some gay
also began to educate itself. and bisexual men, especially
Celibacy, they concurred, young men, to conclude that
was the surest way to avoid the HIV epidemic in the
HIV and other sexually United States is over.
transmitted diseases, but a It is not. According to the
life without sex isn't a viable Centers for Disease Control
option for most gay men. and Prevention (CDC),
Another certain way to because fewer men are dying
avoid sexually transmitted from A~DS,more are living
more unprotected sex with
mor e partners than ever
before. This is true even for
some men who have tested
positive for HIV.
Health officials are con-
cerned about' an accompany-
ing increase in other sexually
transmitted diseases, espe-
cially 'gonorrhea, chlamydia
, and syphilis. These diseases
may not kill, but they cause
.serious' health problems
nonetheless.
issue: The greatest concern is
with the greatest disease," he ,
said.
. Health officials say it's not
that simple.
People who are vulnerable
to HIV tend to be more vul-
nerable to other sexually
transmitted diseases, and are
more likely to pass on AIDS.
In addition, the other sexual-
ly transmitted 'diseases, with
their own sets of serious
health risks, are rising at
alarming rates, according to
government health statistics.
The number of U. S. gon-
orrhea cases, for example,
rose 9'percent in just two
years - between 1997 and
1999- followingmore than a
decade of progress, during
Thoriso of Gonorrhoa
Smith's reaction to gonor-
rhea? "Been there, done
that."
Although he.has been test-
ed numerous times for HIV,
• -~~rid-r--;coinitionth~t infec- y-
tions don't always have
symptoms.
Women are five times as
likely as men to be diagnosed
with chlamydia because of
better screening processes,
but according to Powers,
"Men don't get tested for
chlamydia; they get tested
for gonorrhea. If that test
comes out negative, their
doctor will treat the infection '
as chlamydia."
Chlamydia's symptoms
are similar to those of gonor-
rhea but aren't as painful or
colorful, so infected individu-
als aren't as likely to seek
therapy. According to the
CDC, men who don't seek
treatment may be left with
severe urinary tract infec-
tions and swollentesticles.
Of the most common sex-
ually transmitted diseases,
doctors and the government
tend to take syphilis the most
seriously, especially in
Maricopa County, which is
one of the top 30 counties
nationally for high rates of
syphilis. .
Although the county's
rates fall below those of Los
Angeles, San Francisco or
New York City, 'syphilis is
prevalent enough to .garner
additional funding for
screening from the federal
government.
Called "the great imita-
tor" because its symptoms
mimic those of many other
diseases, syphilis is passed
from person to person
through contact with a
syphilis sore - a painless,
round sore that develops at
the site where the bacteria
enters the body. The sores
usually appear on the genital,
anus or rectum, but can also
show up on the lips or in the
mouth according to CDC
physicians. Unattended
syphilis can cause major
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY LORI HADLEY
In 2002, there were 3,784
reported cases of gonorrhea
in Arizona, Powers said.
About half of the cases
involved men, most of who
lived in metro Phoenix.
Nationally,more than 350,000
cases of gonorrhea ate
reported each year, but the
actual number of cases is
probably double that amount,
he said.
Among men, gonorrhea
usually causes obvious symp-
toms, such as a burning sen-
sation while urinating,
. prompting a visit to a physi-
cian. Sometimes, however,
there are no symptoms, par-
ticularly if. the rectum or
throat is infected.
Left untreated, gonorrhea

4. I
SPECIAL REPORT
'!".
THESTATEPRESS,- TUESDAY,JUNE '7, 2003' -.2
with it. Communities don't
want to deal with it."
Wright -uses President
Bush's recent State of the
Union address as an example. '
"The President promised
to spend billions of dollars to ,
reduce the spread of HI¥- in
Africa. AIDS in Africa is not
a gay person's disease," he
said. "Bush would rather help
straight people in Africa than
the queers in the United
States."
As a health educator,
Wright is as frustrated with
the,government as he is with
the way infected people
Philip Wright, 'an outreach behave. '
specialist with Body-Positive "When people find out
in Phoenix, spends his days they have a (sexually trans-
encouraging gay and bisexual mitted disease), they go into
men to get tested for sexually slut mode and talk them-
transmitted diseases. It has selves into believing they're
not made him optimistic thaj not infectious," he said.
sexually transmitted diseases "After they know,(they're
will be eradicated in the infected), they st.i1.:tdqrll~:prac-
United States anytime soon. tice safe sex,"~Wdg-hf~said.
"When! go out, I don't "Their approadh;to life is to
meet many men my age. dear with cohsequences
Most of them are dead or later." ,
dying," said Wright, 42, who , Powers said he, is con-
'is gay. vinced that the best answer is
;'HIV isa lost cause in the to ptm.;ide;qu~iy.~ screening
United States. The govern- progt$SjU1d, follow up with
, ment doesn't want to deal appr:op~t<;!-Jne~iCatiQns.
/:;<>f" .
01};~~~:r:"':
Qj>
problems and in few cases
, end in death. - '
Health officials say
they're making headway
against syphilis. _
"We're on an upswing,"
Powers said. '~Usually, 5 per-
cent of cases of syphilis were
men who have sex with men,
but in December 20Q2, 20
percent of those reported
were among men Who have
sex with men." Rates in the -
following months dropped
back to 5 percent again.
PartnBring togBthBr
• SHOPS • STORAGE;.,;.,CMte,o:'R,TS
NEE~MORE":RDO'M?Ste~hBu~~ings/'
'Made in Arizoni! • Shippf3di NliJionwide
• EASY, patented DIY instalf~tion' ~
or pro install available
, • STRONGER & as much as 40%
less expensive than W60~:
SOLUTE FREE QUOTES~Ahsolute~V.~om
STORAGE.LLC' ,or call 877l833-3231
I,• ~~:WMt~
l~" •..•
"We are Iessconcerned
with health education and
with behavioral change
because of time and budget
constraints," he said.
"Before AIDS, 80 percent
of syphilis cases were 'among
men who have sex with men,"
he said. "Now,the rate is usu-
ally around 5 percent
(because of screening and
medicines)."
,"I tell people that When
they go to see their doctor,
they should communicate
what disease they inay have
'been exposed to and what
concerns they have.
Otherwise, the doctor may
just test for HIV, come up
with a negative result, and
-give theperson a clean bill of
health," he said.
Medications, however,
don't always provide a ready
answer.
With the increase in the
number of cases of gonor-
rhea, doctors are also seeing
an increase in the number of
cases that cannot be treated
by the usual course of antibi-
otics, Powers said: Penicillin
can no longer prescribed as a
treatment because one out of
five cases now resists. this
traditional treatment. Newer,
more powerful drugs to treat
gonorrhea are available, but
resistance to these medica-
tions has been increasing dur-
ing the past five years.
Powers also said Arizona
doctors are concerned that'
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals
stopped producing Suprax(r),
the only Cne-recommended
oral antibiotic to which
syphilis has not developed
. significant resistance.
AcarBful man
Smith is in the midst of
renovating his home in cen-
tral Phoenix, a project involv-
ing a large amount of grout,
paint and tile.
. He has draped cloths over
furniture .and floors and
taped the edges of the walls.
He has laid out authentic
saltjllo tiles in a precise grid..
Every step is carefully
planned and executed.
But when it comes to his
personal life, Smith said he
would rather rely on his
instincts. As he approaches
his 36th birthday, he no
longer thinks he's invincible.
But he's willing to take some
risks in order to preservethe
spontaneity of sex. He tries
to screen men, he said,
before deciding. whether or
not to use a condom.
- "I talk to' them and watch
their body language. I
attempt to discern whether I
can believe what they say by
speaking on a wide variety of
topics," he said. "I determine
if I can trust them to be- hon-
est with me. Then I ask them
flat out if they -are positive
for HIV."
He .knows that gay, and
bisexual men are not always
honest about whether they
have a sexually transmitted
disease because if they admit-
it, it reduces their chances of
having sex. . 0
"I'm very "aware every
single time that this person
could be lying to me, but I've
done WhatI can," Smith said.
"I have had several people
tell me' that they have lied to
have someone touch them
and to hold them and to meet
their skin hunger kinds of
needs. But I'm not taking a
blood test in the screening
.process.'
Thaf attitude makes doc-
tors shudder.
They fear that HIV will
become a worse problem as
the long-term effects of anti-
viral medications become
known. They worry that HIV
may become resistant to the
drugs that are now used to
treat it.
Physicians now battling
drug-resistant strains of gon-
orrhea wonder how long it
'will take before chlamydia
follows suit. They wonder if
an epidemic of syphilis
among men who have 'sex
with men is just around the
comer.
At the moment, though,
Smith can't ponder-such fear-
some questions.' He has
remodeling to do.
As the minutes of good
sunlight tick away, he points
out a single tile featuring a
coyote paw' print. It's a spe-
cial tile he bought to lay
amongst the rest on his new
dining room floor. "It brings
good luck," he said.
Reach the reporter at
jefferyhampltsasu.edu.
* The name has been
changed to protect the indi-
vidual's identity. "
'~,
'r-