Today is a day with(out). A Day With(out) Art.

You should notice the shrouds across campus today, covering the usual pieces of art that, quite frankly, you may not have noticed before.

We hope you’ll take notice now, because no, there isn’t some art cleaning program sweeping across campus, no covering art for the chilly weather, and no, the art hasn’t been moved to another exhibit, a la some zoo exhibit. We hope you’ll take notice because A Day With(out) Art — the reason behind the obfuscation of campus art and indeed art across the country — relates a serious message:

AIDS is not over.

A syndrome caused by a disease that is often described as “no longer a death sentence” by doctors, AIDS — and subsequently, HIV — is not something that exists solely in history books of the 1980s. It persists — and in some places in the world, rages — onward.

We could take this opportunity to point fingers and blame for previous and current mishandling of the disease if we wanted.

After all, isn’t a good fight more entertaining than information? Couldn’t we draw a considerably larger audience that way?

No. AIDS is a disease that demands attention and educated observation, not stigma, politically-motivated partisan bickering or misconceptions.

Since 1981, more than 25 million people have lost their lives to the disease. This is more than half of all estimated casualties from World War II, which is widely regarded as one of history’s most atrocious events. But that war ended, while AIDS continues, with a United Nations program, UNAIDS, reporting an estimated 33.4 million people living with the syndrome in 2008.

The largest percentage of new cases in the United States belongs to the MSM — males who have sex with males — category, but injection drug use is a significant contributor as well. Also, high-risk heterosexual contact infections rival the latest numbers of MSM infections, and these infections continue to increase annually while MSM infections decrease. Estimates from 2007 also show a higher number of infections among blacks than whites, while white infection numbers are about one-third higher than the next most at-risk group, Hispanics.

In other words? This isn’t something that cannot touch you. AIDS can affect anyone: gay, straight, bisexual, black, white, Hispanic, etc. The way to combat HIV and AIDS is to stay safe, and that goes for everyone.

HIV/AIDS can be transmitted several ways, but the ones we want you to be aware of are transmitted through sex — any, yes any, kind of sex, even oral, without proper protection — and exposure to blood-borne pathogens via sharing or improperly cleaning a needle, including tattoo shop needles (so make sure your next tattoo comes from a renowned shop with professional staff like the shops on our very own Welch Avenue).

HIV is not transmitted via casual contact, and as illustrated above, is not limited to one race or sexual orientation. So if you know someone living with HIV/AIDS, don’t fear or ostracize them. Support them. They need you and others in their life now more than ever.

For those who are HIV-free, make sure you stay that way. Get tested — Thielen Student Health Center has facilities which provide confidential testing with a helpful and kind staff — and practice safe sex. That doesn’t just mean condoms and dental dams, either.

Communicate with your partner. Be open and honest and voice concerns if you have them. We’re still young adults on the edge of moving on into the real world. There’s no need to rush into anything you’re uncomfortable with. If the person you’re with respects you, they will listen.

A Day With(out) Art observes World AIDS Day in a visual representation of what the world may indeed look like if this pandemic continues unchecked: A barren, lifeless world, devoid of beauty, rampaged by sickness and famine.

Don’t let that describe you, your beliefs or your knowledge about AIDS. Educate yourself and others, and get involved in charities if you have the availability.

And take some time to notice the art around you.