page 6- Out in the Mountains

VERMONT A.I.D.S. INFORMATION

B ODYWORK S

Kutzcho Hired by State

Vermont C.A.R.E.S. is pleased to
announce the confirmation of Deborah
Kutzcho as the Department of Health's
new A.I.D.S. co-ordinator.

Ms. Kutzko, a Burlington area
nurse practitioner, received her degree
in nursing from the University of
Vermont and her practitioner degree
from the University of Colorado at
Denver. Ms. Kutzko was a clinician at
the Fenway Clinic in Boston for two
years. While there she was an
investigator in several A.I.D.S. related
research grants in addition to providing
direct care services to persons with
AIDS and AIDS related concerns. Ms.
Kutzko has been a clinician with
Planned Parenthood in Burlington for
the past year.

Ms. Kutzko, whose position is
created from federal grant money,
views her primary role as educating the
public on the ways people can and
cannot put themselves at risk for AIDS,
"Taking the confusion and making sense
out of it.‘ she said.

She view Vermont as being in a
good situation because it has few
diagnosed cases of AIDS and few
positive antibody tests. "Vermont is a
perfect place for risk reduction and
safe sex education as methods of
prevention" she said.

Ms. Kutzko is willing to answer
and questions people have concerning
AIDS and other HIV infections. She is
‘¢'Ii>U open to listening to the concerns
of lesbian and gay men. The
department of health‘s toll free AIDS
hotline is I-800-882-2437.

Vermont C.A.R.E.S. will be entering
into negotiations with the department
of health to provide risk reduction and
safe sex education to high risk groups.

Training
Seminar Planned
Working as an A.I.D.S. volunteer

can be both rewarding and challenging.
Whether providing direct care services
for people with A.I.D.S., conducting
safe-sex education, counselling the
"worried well," educating the general
public, or providing organizational
support to an A.I.D.S. group, volunteers
have been key to meeting the
tremendous needs presented by the
A.I.D.S. crisis.

The Vermont Committee for
A.I.D.S. Resources, Education and
Services (Vermont C.A.R.E.S.) has
scheduled a volunteer training seminar
for the weekend of November 15 and
16 in Burlington.

The seminar will feature
presentations and workshops by a wide

range of authorities with specific
A.I.D.S. experience.
‘We hope to provide people

interested in getting involved with any
aspect of A.I.D.S. work with the skills
and knowledge it takes to be effective"
said Tcrje Anderson, chair of Vermont
C.A.R.E.S. "We are concerned not only
with the concrete and information
questions about doing A.I.D.S. work,
but also in preparing people for the
interpersonal and emotional aspects of
it. One of our major goals is to
provide a
volunteers."

The group emphasized that
attending the seminar is not a
commitment to volunteering, but rather
a wa_v to understand what volunteer
work can involve.

Anyone who has ever thought
about becoming involvcd with A_l,D,S_
support is encouraged to attend. To
register for the seminar, or for more
details, contact Vermont C.A.R.E.S. at
P.O. Box ll25, Montpelier, VT 05602,
or contact Keith Goslant (454-8552),
Tcrje Anderson (862-59l7), or Steve
Shepard (862—78l7).

support nctuork for

Fl:‘0I.I1 Washington

When asked about the $51 million
cut in A.I.D.S. funding proposed in the
1987 fiscal year budget presented by
the Reagan administration, Vermont's
Congressional delegation responded:

Senator Patrick Leahy: ‘I agree that
money should be appropriated, not
stripped from the budget, for this
purpose...l supported an amendment to
budget to use funds for health research,
including AIDS, instead of
congressional mailings.‘

Representative James Jeffords: "the
House passed budget for fiscal I987
includes $346 million in funding for
AIDS research. This compares favorably
with the Administration's original
proposal of S2l3 million. While this
budget level is heartening, the bottom
line is the actual appropriation.‘

Asked to co-sponsor Senate Bill 2345,
the AIDS Counseling, Education and
Services Act of I986 introduced by
Senator Ted Kennedy, they responded:

Leahy: '1 believe that this bill is a
good first step towards addressing the
serious problem of AIDS in this
country. I have co-sponsored the
legislation, and hope that it will come
before the Senate for consideration and
passage."

Senator Robert Stafford: ''I will
review the bill closely, but I would likc
the benefit of committee hearings and
deliberation on this piece of legislation
before I take a position. You may be
assured I will have your thoughts in
mind as the legislative process works.‘

National Day of
Prayer for A.I.D.S.

The Presiding Bishop, Edmmond
Browing of the Episcopal Church has
designated Sunday, .November 9, to
focus, through prayer, on those who
have AIDS and those who have died
from AIDS.

Episcopal Church Holds

A.I.D.S. Conference

The Episcopal Church, Province of
New England held a conference on
AIDS at Mont Marie Conference Center
in Holyoke, Mass. on October 2-4.
Modeled after the National Conference
on AIDS, held in San Francisco last
March, the conference was a result of a
mandate created by a resolution passed
unanimously by the House of Deputies
at the General Convention of the
Episcopal Church held in Anaheim,
California during September of I985.

The conference was targeted at
Episcopalians, though all were welcome.
One~ hundred-twenty attended which
included six people with AIDS (PWA).
The PWAs were anonymous except one,
a hemophilic from Milford, New
Hampshire, who was one of the plenary
speakers. Other l’WAs were allowed to
“come out“ during the conference as the
time seemed right for them.

About 3 dozen well-known people
like The Rev. William Doubleday,Larry
Kessler and John rortunato spokc on
Various 359°C“ on various aspects of
thodisease and the caring for PWAS.
Fifteen workshops were offered on
appropriate topics, The highlight of the
conference was the main service on
Friday evening with the "laying~on of
hands" by The Rt. Rev. David Johnson,
Bishop of Massachusetts and The Rt.
Rev. George Hunt, Bishop of Rhodc
Island. Bishop Johnson, was the
celebrant at that service and Bishop,
Hunt was the preacher.

vPortions of the conference were
both audio-and video-taped.
Integrity/Burlington owns a set of the
tapes which can be used as resource
material. People seeking more
information may contact by writing
Integrity/ Burlington, PO Box I26,
Burlington 05402, or by calling Bruce
Howden 864-7198.

VT CARES Offers
Safe Sex Workshops

The issue of H.l.V. infections/
A.I.D.S. is currently receiving greater
media attention. Anti-E.R.A. coalitions
are using A.I.D.S. as an emotional scare
tactic. Conservative and fundamentalist
groups are misrepresenting statistics and
claiming H.I.V. infections are casualiy
transmitted. At the same time,
researchers are releasing the promise of
antivirals, such as A.Z.T. and CS-85, in
solving the Human Immunodeficiency
Virus that causes A.I.D.S.

This diversity of information and