Posted on 04/26/2002 6:24:13 PM PDT by Ralph the Hun
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- Hundreds of people will be tested for the AIDS virus after the arrest of an infected college basketball player on charges of having unprotected sex, the governor said Friday.
Nikko Briteramos, an 18-year-old freshman at Si Tanka-Huron University, was arrested Tuesday and charged with five counts of knowingly exposing a woman to HIV. Briteramos, who is from Chicago, remained in jail Friday on $10,000 bail.
Defense attorney Mary Keller said Briteramos is stunned by the charges. "He strikes me as a very sincere young man who is completely baffled by what's going on," she said.
More than 50 people were tested on Thursday, and none had any immediate sign of the virus, Gov. Bill Janklow said. Additional testing will be required at three weeks, three months and six months, he said.
One of the people tested gave the names of 70 others who were in contact with Briteramos, and the chain will undoubtedly run into the hundreds before everyone is tested, Janklow said.
For "anyone who has multiple sex partners, it's reasonable to assume that some of those sex partners have had multiple sex partners, and that's how the chain starts," the governor said.
State Health Department officials said three reports of HIV infection, including Briteramos' case, have been confirmed in Huron, a middle-class town of 12,000 about 120 miles from Sioux Falls. Authorities allege Briteramos had sex with the two other people.
The AIDS rate in South Dakota is among the lowest in the nation at 1.1 cases for every 100,000 residents.
Briteramos' infection was detected when he tried to donate blood last month, authorities said.
A total of 50 sexual partners have been identified from the three HIV-positive cases.
Briteramos, a 6-foot-7 center, could get up to 75 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
"This is no different than pointing a gun at somebody and pulling the trigger," the governor said.
...Si Tanka/Huron University For Si Tanka/Huron University's website, see Website On April 26, 2001 an unprecedented merger took place when Si Tanka College, Eagle Butte, South Dakota, one of the oldest tribal colleges in the nation purchased one of the oldest private universities in South Dakota. Si Tanka Huron University is the first off-reservation Tribal-controlled University in the United States. Presently more than 50% of all students enrolled are minorities. This is the first time in history that a Tribal College has purchased the resources and facilities of an existing, non-Tribal University (Huron University, Huron, South Dakota). The purchase brought a 118-year tradition of academic excellence to Si Tanka. Together, Si Tanka and Huron University have the resources to change the face of American Indian Higher Education today: On October 13, 2001, Si Tanka Huron Tribal University held its first combined homecoming, bringing together students from varied ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds...
www.biotech.wisc.edu/seebiotech/devarea/schools.html
also found:
April 26, 2001 an unprecedented merger took place when Si Tanka College, Eagle Butte, South Dakota, one of the oldest tribal colleges in the nation when it purchased one of the oldest private universities in South Dakota. Si Tanka Huron University is the first off-reservation Tribal’s controlled University in the United States. Presently more than 50% of all students enrolled are minorities...
www.huron.edu/html/american.htm
More Info:
...The school, which offers degrees in business, education, nursing and criminal justice, has started to establish itself as a major national American Indian University. During the last six months, contacts have been made with as many as 32 Tribal Colleges, which typically are two year colleges that reside on reservations. It is anticipated that during the next 12 – 24 months, an American Indian University system will be formed to help reservations and rural areas throughout the United States with local economic development and health care service needs...
It would be a cruel irony if the best of liberal intensions/hard work actually contributed to a degrading of health care rather than upgrading it.
Abstinance, then monogamy within the marriage bounds works!
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