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Bridging the Gap
By Danielle Lorenz

Have you ever wanted to attend an academic conference, but were too intimidated by the academics that are likely to attend? How about if one was developed specifically for undergraduate students? You happen to be in luck. Various McMaster student groups, as well as Oxfam Canada and Canada World Youth are holding a conference here at Mac on November 24th.

Bridging the Gap: Making the Connection between YOU and AIDS, is the name of the half-day conference. I assume that it was named for the 12th World AIDS Conference that took place from June 28th – July 3rd 1998 in Geneva Switzerland. It is free to attend and is from 12:30PM until 4:30PM, and in MDCL.

The aim of the conference is to enlighten participants’ connections with AIDS/HIV in their community as well as globally. Developed through various workshops, the connections will be developed through education about social issues surrounding HIV/AIDS and how to get involved. The ultimate aim of the conference is to get participants to join in the fight against the deadly disease.

The conference has two sessions of concurrent workshops, two different keynote speakers, a vocal performance, and of course, food. One of the keynote speakers, Amutha Samgam, is actually living with HIV and talks about the effects of the disease on their life. Speakers consist of PhDs, MDs, and leaders of AIDS activism and education groups.

This is certainly not something to be missed. If you would like more information, please consult with the conference’s website: http://www.geocities.com/aidsconference2007/index.html