HIV/AIDS among college students in Zimbabwe

In a social chat with students who preferred anonymity for security reasons said that their first encounter in sex when they were at college left them HIV positive a move that left me disheartened as I could notice the sad and wilting faces they all wear as they spilled their secrecy to the reporter Caven Masuku. One female student who was at liberty to share her ordeal with me said she could protect her boyfriend at college by using the condom, but one of the days when they were having sex the condom broke and that is how she infected her boyfriend. Another male student I asked about how he contracted HIV told me that his girlfriend who was HIV positive lied in order not to lose him. “She was double crossing me with one of the sugar daddy who could give her money to buy denims and to spoil herself. At times she use could give me the money and I was not aware that she was indulging in unprotected sex” , said Denny who refused to give his real name for security reasons Most students leave college with HIV and a graduate certificate which is a shame especially to developing countries like Zimbabwe. Students suffer to STD for some time and do not rush to near clinics to seek medication so as to avoid HIV. Research’s conducted in Zimbabwe about the spread of HIV among students at colleges shows that they is need for a critical part of the effort to get students to realize that they are at risk if they engage in unprotected sex. Most students who have a special name for sex at college calls it a “core module”. Both male and female students over weekends visit night clubs where they met their sex partners and indulge in sex without wearing condoms and make them vulnerable to HIV. One student from a local college said that “even though they were engaging in relatively high-risk sexual behaviour, most students at college which is roughly about 40 to 50% of them are engaging in unprotected receptive anal intercourse, probably the highest risk activity you can engage in. Yet none of them thought they were likely or very likely to contract HIV." In Zimbabwe I suggest that it is high time relevant authority should create some plays or drama that discourages college students from being wield about sexual escapade said one of the concerned college student. College authorities should use traditional facet things to get Persuasive messages should be created and circulated among the students to educate them that , it can happen to anybody, whether they are pretty or not, whether they are smart or not; it does not matter. It does not have a preference. Anybody can catch that disease. Students should know that it is not one campus, not even one part of the country, and not just one demographic. Anyone who is having unprotected sex in any of the local colleges in Zimbabwe can be at risk. Health workers together with volunteers once a month should hit the streets and college hostels to pass out safe sex kits to anyone who ‘will take them. Each kit handed to both female and male students at colleges should contain condoms, along with instructions on how to use them and information about healthy relationships, abstinence, and HIV testing. Research conducted elsewhere indicates that educators should make an effort to prevent all the others on college campuses because lives are at stake. In Zimbabwe and across the continent and even global, HIV is a disease that is taking the lives of young adults. It is claiming in masses and volumes the lives of our next generation of leaders, taking the lives of those who will contribute to the country’s development. In Zimbabwe if we do not work hard to address this plight, we will lose a generation and where will we be left limping said Gorden Mbizi one of the male students People especially students, have to stand up, take responsibility for their lives and behaviour to avoid the spread of HIV, he said

STYLE FOR NEWS WRITING Inverted Pyramid,Literal Allusion, Champagna Glass, Stack of Blocks and Nut Graph

Most news stories are written in a traditional form it puts most important details first. The form is called an INVERTED PYRAMID. It begins with a terse/short opening paragraph called LEAD that summarizes the principal items of a news event. The second paragraph and each succeeding paragraph contain secondary or supporting details in order of decreasing importance. NB All the paragraphs of the story contain newsworthy information, but each paragraph is less vital than the one before it. The writing form puts the punch of a story at the beginning. This writing form is different from the writing form used for novels, short stories, drama and some news features, where an author begins with background and works to a climax. Guideline for using the Inverted Pyramid 1. Avoid a “buried lead”. The ingredients of an inverted pyramid are the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY and HOW of news event. For example: X“Police Chief John Jones discussed Riversdale crime problem with interested town’s people at a meeting Monday night. Jones agreed to meet with residents who have grown increasingly concerned about the safety of their neighbors’. The Chief said there were more serious crimes reported in the last 12 months in Riverdale than during any year in the city’s history” “Police Chief John Jones said Monday night that there were more serious crimes reported in Riverdale last year than during any 12 months in the city’s history” (Anderson and Itule 1984) 2. Keep the lead as brief as possible: If you can do it in 25 words or fewer, fine, but never write a lead with more than 35 words. The writer should not have attempted to put two ideas into one sentence. Effective Leads: “ZIMBABWE Prime Minister Morgarn Tsvangirai warned SADC yesterday that is has two weeks to settle the pending issues in the Global Political Agreement among the Main Political parties”. 3. Keep all sentences as simple as possible: Trim superfluous or hard-to-understand words. Do not clutter sentences with un-necessary adjectives, advertisements or subordinate Clauses. 4. Write in an active voice (Subject acting upon object) rather than passive voice (subject is acted upon). -Active voice is considered more direct and vigorous. Lead: “Chicago firefighters battled dense smoke for nearly six hours Saturday to bring a multi-alarm blaze in a downtown frozen foods storage building under control. WHO……Firefighters WHAT….Battle dense smoke in a multi-alarm blaze WHEN….Saturday WHERE...Downtown Chicago WHY……To control a fire (Anderson and Itule 1984:19) NB: Hard News uses INVERTED PYRAMID as well as SOFT NEWS use literary lead Champagne glass The style takes a similar form to the Inverted Pyramid with the first top/ first half of the story containing a strong lead and all the important facts. There is a strong transition to a chronological retelling of the story from beginning to end The style ends with a great kicker It is important to give your readers a “reward” for staying with you for the whole story. Complex events are simplified in narrative order and it keeps the story in context NB The only problem though is that this kind of story is much harder to edit. Stack of block This style takes the form of a lead followed by several distinct and separate sections and a strong ending. The advantage of grouping information into specific sections is that it allows for easier explanation and helps readers remember the major points and explanations. The major disadvantage is that a reader has to scan an entire story to get all the points. Editing is easy and less important information can be removed without the rest of the story not being affected Anecdote and nut graph It can lead the reader easily into difficult subjects and complex analyses. Story written under this style starts with a long soft lead. The paragraph following the SOFT LEAD is called the “NUT GRAPH”. Nut Graph tells the reader what the story is all about (ie) it gives essential facts which show why the story is so important The style takes a similar form to the Inverted Pyramid with the first top/ first half of the story containing a strong lead and all the important facts. There is a strong transition to a chronological retelling of the story from beginning to end The style ends with a great kicker It is important to give your readers a “reward” for staying with you for the whole story. Complex events are simplified in narrative order and it keeps the story in context NB The only problem though is that this kind of story is much harder to edit. REFERENCES Anderson D.A and Itule B.D (1984) Contemporary News Writing. New York. USA, Random House. Brooks et al (1998) News Reporting and Writing. USA. St Martins Press. Day (2000) Ethics in Media Communications; Cases and Controversies 3rd Edition. Belmont, CA.Wadsworth. Fry,D.(2009) Champagne Glass http://donfry.wordpress.com/2009/06/24champagne-glass/Accessedon20/08/12 Greer G (1999) A New introduction to Journalism . South Africa. Cape Town . Juta Hohenburg J (1976) The professional Journalists Fourth Edition. London. University of Kansas. r />