Morning Roundup: Goodbye, Abe Edition
Vegetate to Close at the End of the Month
D.C. Police Seek Suspect in Series of Bank Robberies
Suspect in 9-Year-Old's Murder Found Dead in D.C. Jail
Wizards Owner Abe Pollin Dies at 85
A bit of disheartening news today for local runners. According to an email sent by Richard Zeichik, National Director for the AIDS Marathon Training Program, the group will discontinue its popular training program in the D.C. area in 2007. It seems that the group's partner, the Whitman-Walker Clinic, has chosen to sever its ties with the organization. From the email:
As a few of us on the DCist staff can tell you, running for a grueling 26.2 miles is a bitch and the right support and help makes all the difference. While there are still various other training programs out there for runners to turn to, the AIDS Marathon was a great way to make a difference and we're sad to see it go.After nine incredible years of producing the AIDS Marathon Training Program on behalf of Whitman-Walker Clinic, we are saddened and deeply sorry to tell you that our D.C. training program will be closing next month.
There will be no AIDS Marathon training programs in the Washington, D.C. area in 2007...The Whitman-Walker Clinic has announced today that it will be merging with the Washington Free Clinic later this month. With this re-organization, the Clinic has decided not to continue as the local AIDS Marathon beneficiary.
DCist staff writer Ian Buckwalter contributed to this post.
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I run when bad s*** chases me. I can't really bring myself to take part in an activity where the first guy to ever do it died in the attempt.
I have two friends who took part in the program and loved it. I really don't like to run or hurry, but I am also sad to see it go.
That's too bad. There is something that makes you feel a little better knowing that the entirely selfish act of running 26.2 miles is for a good cause. It takes a little more work to make sure that your donations are going to the right place, but various organizations work w/the MCM to form teams. The running group that I'm with - DCFit - will also help you find which orgs are raising money through the marathon. Raising money through the marathon is also a good way to make sure that you get a spot in the race as many of those groups will secure the spots ahead of time.
Beamtendave--
The story that Phidippedes, the supposed message runner from Marathon to Athens, died after the completion of his route is unsubstantiated. The legend was made fanciful by Robert Browning's great 19th century poem. More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pheidippides
But, I can see why marathoners don't generally go out of their way to disprove such a myth: 26.2 miles can be grueling.
I'm glad so many people think running marathons is "grueling", because that means less crowded races for the rest of us :-)
from washdc.tribe.net/thread/e65c807d-efc6-4ebf-83ac-83ec8284361d
This will just make it easier for folks to do the right thing, and make a big, anonymous donation to the charity of their choice. They can then register for their races like everyone else, and be free of nagging doubts that preferred slots and team swag somehow detract from their charitable act.
Visit www.wwc.org to learn the real reasons why Whitman-Walker Clinic decided not to renew its contract with the producer of the National AIDS Marathon Training Program. Whitman-Walker says it wants to focus on local events where it gets some name recognition. And it made a responsible decision based on the marathon program's extremely high cost of fundraising. Frankly, spending a dollar to make a dollar isn't considered real smart in the non-profit world, unless you're getting something else, like incredible PR. But very few people had any idea that the clinic was in any way tied to these marathons.
"And it made a responsible decision based on the marathon program's extremely high cost of fundraising."
Um, you mean the same overhead that WWC has itself? (In other words, if you donated $1 to WWC or to AIDS Marathon, in the end the same percentage actually made it to the client versus used by admin.)
When all is said and done, WWC ended up netting (after all admin costs) $14 million in the last nine years. I don't know about you, but that sounds awfully good to me.
When I donate money to and HIV/AIDS service organization, I want it to benefit people living with HIV/AIDS, I don't want my money paying to support some's running hobby.
Bottom line there are ETHICAL GUIDELINES for fundraising that resposible orgnanizations like the Red Cross and the United Way adhere to. When half of the money you raise goes to expenses rather than your actual cause, you have crossed the line.
This marathon provides an excuse for a lot of people who could afford their own running hobby to hit make their friends and families pay for it.
If you want to go run a marathon in London, or Miami, go for it. But find a way to pay for it yourself.
In the meantime, let the rest of us who WANT to support local HIV/AIDS organizations focus on local events with a far smaller overhead.
It's a shame that the Washington Free Clinic had to close.
I'm sure that we all hope that the services folded into Whitman-Walker will be able to serve as many if not more people.
Funny how most developed nations have national healthcare. Just how do they do it?
HIV/AIDS in the Asian Region
After 25 years of HIV/AIDS prevention efforts considerable knowledge has been accumulated regarding how the spread of HIV/AIDS can be controlled. It is necessary to block the transmission of the virus by changing the behaviour of people who are most at risk of contracting HIV infection and of transmitting it to others. The main approach to prevent sexual transmission are convincing people to delay or abstain from sex, to have fewer sexual partners and to use condoms in order to reduce the likelihood that sex between an infected and uninfected person will lead to an infection.
HIV/AIDS is not new to the Asia. More than two decades into the epidemic, the situation of HIV within Asia continues to grow at an alarming pace, with one person dying every minute due to an HIV related disease. With moderately 10 Million people living with HIV/AIDS, the impact of the epidemic can be devastating. The “Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallyan Foundation” identified four major approaches in a groundbreaking study on spread out HIV in Asia. This study undertook by comparing of social-economic norm, family pattern, economic dependency, cause of mounting sex industries, gender discrimination status & global analysis fact. There are four factors that appear to play a crucial role in HIV transmission in Asian countries: Injection/ intravenous drug use (By sharing needle), female sex work (Due to lack of safe sex knowledge), gender discrimination (which indirectly force females commercial or non-commercial sex), Same sex/ homosexually/ Hijara (Due to lack of HIV/AIDS information, because they act invisible in this society). Poverty & illiteracy fueled it proportionally.
Overall, the countries in the region are considered to be in the early stage of the epidemic with the exception of Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand which are experiencing generalized epidemics—a generalized epidemic is one where 1% of the population are HIV positive. The prevalence is growing in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, China, Vietnam and Indonesia, with epidemics concentrated largely among vulnerable populations such as sex workers, intravenous drug users and men who have sex with men. The bulk of the burden of HIV is on poor people, marginalized communities, the youth and women.
In this region, there are some superstitions about HIV/AIDS. This can be found in other countries too. Suppose, one-third people of China think that by using bathrooms, towels, plates and glasses of AIDS patients, HIV can be infected. Remember, it is not true certainly. The virus has been found in saliva in a small percentage of infected people, but usually this is late in the stage of the disease when you would not expect people to be too sexually active. After HIV enters the body, it attacks the immune system in stages. A person with HIV can infect others once the virus enters the bloodstream.
In the past few decades, the Asia has witnessed unprecedented economic growth and a rise in living standards. However, it has brought to the region disturbing concerns such as increasing levels of economic disparity, income poverty and new forms of deprivation. In addition, challenges such as conflicts, various forms of exploitation and discrimination, and gender inequality continue to mark the region’s socio-economic and cultural landscape. The fact that about 600 million people in the region live on less than US$ 1 a day testifies to the stark reality that a large majority of people in the region are still disempowered, with limited or no access to resources or information that would improve the lives.
Shravea Kumar
CEO
Urban Development Center (UDC)
Ahmedabad Gujarat
India
shraveakumar@walla.com