Life&Style. UBC researcher hopes to take the stigma out of HIV testing By Marion Benkaiouche — The Ubyssey (University of British Columbia) VANCOUVER (CUP) — Anew HIV prevention initiative pioneered by a UBC researcher seeks to expand HIV testing beyond only at-risk communities, focusing instead on those who are at a low risk of infection or believe that they are HIV-negative. “We're trying to take the stigma out of the equation,” explains Dr. Julio Montaner, director of the B.C. Centre for Excellence and head of the AIDS division in the UBC Faculty of Medicine. “We no longer want to target HIV testing to people who are at risk, because we've done that already. We want to confirm that 99 plus per cent of society is negative, but help those who don’t know their status or are unsuspecting and help them get access to proper treatment.” Montaner intends to test the general public on a strictly voluntary basis. The program uses a rapid- result test that takes only 60 seconds to determine a patient’s status; if the result is positive, this is confirmed by a second test run in a full lab. Anyone who has been sexually active in the last five decades could be at risk for the disease, he said. Various rapid-testing clinics have sporadically offered the 60-second test on UBC campus, but UBC Student Health Services currently only offers the full lab HIV test with a longer wait. Reactions across UBC varied; many students had no qualms about taking or retaking an HIV test. Angus Chak, a third-year Commerce student, was unsure whether he would take the test: “I don’t know if I would take the test. Maybe, probably. Probably would. I don’t [know] for sure.” Testing costs would be subsidized by Vancouver Social Media Detox How to tell if your friends really love you By Sophie Isbister, Staff Writer eptember 25 was my birthday, and it was the first year out of the past six that my personal day of honour wasn’t publicly recognized on social media. When I started this experiment, I didn’t really put a lot of thought into the timing of it. Sure, I acknowledged that my birthday would fall mid-experiment. I even recognized that if I wanted to have a halfway decent birthday party, I couldn’t just throw together a Facebook event and watch people RSVP. What I didn’t account for was the actual, visceral sadness that I would experience upon realizing that there would be a 2012-shaped gap in my timeline of “Happy Birthday!” greetings on the social network. The giant narcissist that dwells within me usually relishes this time of year. College Cooking short: Mashed cauliflower recipe ooking to try something new this Thanksgiving? Mashed cauliflower is just like mashed potatoes, but with about a fifth of the calories, a higher concentration of protein to carbohydrates, and more vitamin C. Despite the fact that the usual Facebook birthday greeting comes from an acquaintance who wouldn’t know your birthday if it wasn’t shoved in their face, it’s nice to see such an outpouring. People by the hundreds all writing words, just for me! So I guess it’s understandable that the little ego-monster in my guts started spewing acid once it realized it was going to miss out on its yearly feel-goodery fest. While I am arguably the Steam about a head of cauliflower, broken into pieces, until soft. Blend or mash with between two tablespoons to a %4 cup of milk (almond or soy milk work too), a clove of garlic, and a tablespoon of olive oil, until smooth. Also try adding a little bit of chicken or mock- chicken bouillon, crushed pepper, or dried thyme. Set it, and forget it. Then eat it. With files from Joel MacKenzie Coastal Health. Montaner argues that the cost of testing should pay for itself in the future by making sure HIV-positive people begin treatment early. An earlier program involved giving the rapid HIV test to 20,000 patients at St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver General Hospital and other Vancouver clinics. Patients visiting for anon-HIV/ AIDS related complaint were offered a rapid HIV test, and 97 per cent accepted. While acceptance was high, “the rate of offer was less than 50 per cent,” reported Dr. Montaner. “Doctors or nurses didn’t have the time or the confidence to [offer most brilliant person to ever do a Facebook-related social experiment, I am definitely not the first. David Plotz at Slate.com conducted a similar but inverse experiment in the summer of 2011— instead of having no Facebook birthday, he had three in the span of six weeks. Plotz discovered that the urge to bestow meaningless platitudes on the birthday boy-or-girl is so rote that he received multiple birthday greetings from the same people, even worded almost exactly the same each time. He equates this knee-jerk greeting with a social media user’s desire to create “social capital,” a kind of you-scratch-my- back-I'll-scratch-yours of friendly greetings. I don’t disagree with Plotz’s findings. Mine were similar. I received a handful of personal text messages from people who I consider the test].” According to Montaner, 21 per cent of HIV-positive individuals are unaware of their status, and infected people who don’t know their status account for 54 per cent of new infections. “Tf we could test everybody in British Columbia today, we could potentially find 3,500 HIV-positive individuals and virtually end HIV transmission in the province,” said Montaner. “We're trying to use BC as a testing ground for how far we can push the envelope and eradicate this epidemic,” said Montaner. “People infected with HIV need treatment. Full stop.” to be my close friends, including my mother, my significant other, my best friend, and her fiancé. I only got a dozen greetings this year instead of the usual dozen-squared. But each greeting was remembered. Each person who wished me a happy birthday did it because their brain told them to, not a faceless website. When I think about that, it feels good. But I still won't forget my initial trip to desolation station. Next week on Social Media Detox: I ask my boyfriend to check Facebook for me to see if there’s anything to do on Saturday night. He says, “That's cheating, and you’d better tell the newspaper that you asked me to do this.” He’s so right, and I’m so bad! Stay tuned for a guide on how to stay social without a technological lifeline.