Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Associated Press; 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020 - October 31, 1997 6.49 p.m. EST (2349 GMT)
Carolyn Thompson, Associated Press
"Events like this really do increase a young person's sense of vulnerability," said Michael Resnick, a sociologist at the University of Minnesota.
"That's why Mothers Against Driving Drunk drag crashed-up cars to the front lawns of high schools on prom night. It's not just a warning. The message is transmitted. It gets internalized, then a person says, `Hey, it could happen to me, too."'
Authorities say at least nine girls, the youngest now 14, tested positive for HIV from contact with Nushawn Williams, a 20-year-old drifter who would compliment their looks and sometimes offer them drugs. One man contracted the virus after sex with one of the girls.
Authorities estimate more than 100 people may be at risk of HIV through direct or secondary contact with Williams.
For some young people who admit to having risky sex, the much-repeated warnings about AIDS are sinking in.
"Reality hit me like a ton of bricks," said a 16-year-old named Bill who was tested after hearing about the mini-epidemic. "I didn't know (HIV) was that big a deal until it came to Jamestown."
No lecture could have been more powerful, experts said.
"You can point out statistics and they always think they're immune to this," said Marguerite Kermis, a psychology professor at Canisius College in Buffalo.
Fifty-three percent of U.S. high school students are sexually active, and 47 percent of them don't use condoms, according to the latest federal survey on the topic, in 1993.
"In some ways I think this is a seminal event, in the same way Magic Johnson announcing his HIV status, or Arthur Ashe," said Dr. John Klein of the University of Rochester School of Medicine.
Williams is currently jailed on a drug charge in New York. Chautauqua County District Attorney James Subjack has filed a statutory rape charge against Williams and plans assault charges for each of the six women he is believed to have infected after learning he had the virus.
Copyright 1997/The Associated Press. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Permissions Desk, The Associated Press, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020.
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Copyright © 1997 - Associated Press. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the AP Permissions Desk.
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