Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 24, 1990 TAG: 9007240528
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO LENGTH: Medium
"Our idea is to change the attitude in Wichita, Kansas," said Dick Hasenpflug, chairman of the Rotary AIDS Project of the Los Altos Rotary Club.
Dushan Angius challenged the Rotary Club to get involved in AIDS education last summer when he told the group his son, Steve, had AIDS.
"When a son tells you he has AIDS, all you hear is `Gee Dad, I'm going to die.' There's no way I could let it go that way," Angius said.
The documentary, shown to the media today, eventually will be distributed to 24,000 Rotary Clubs worldwide, Hasenpflug said.
"Rotarians around the world tend to be leaders in their communities and we think the Rotarian network gives a unique opportunity to make an impact on community thinking," he said.
The film initially was going to feature Steve Angius' story alone. But as word of the project spread, two Rotary Club members publicly acknowledged that they tested positive for the AIDS virus.
Greg Betts, president of the Bayshore Rotary Club in neighboring Palo Alto, volunteered to appear in the film.
Walter Singer, a 67-year-old retired businessman, went one step further. He allowed crews to film the meeting in December when he told the Los Altos Rotary Club how he contracted the AIDS virus in a blood transfusion during heart bypass surgery.
"It was an individual reaction, sort of a gasp," Hasenpflug said. "It was dead silent, a lot of hugging and holding. All of these things you don't expect a lot of 60-year-old men to be doing."
Singer said the courage of the Angius family and the public support they received persuaded him to go public. The local Rotary Club's involvement with AIDS is a departure for the conservative organization that usually avoids politically controversial subjects, Hasenpflug said.
"We believe strongly that the AIDS project transcends politics," Hasenpflug said. "The political part of it is how people catch it, and in my opinion, how people catch it is irrelevant once they catch it. People need our support."
Hasenpflug describes the film as "a very powerful piece" that focuses on the impact AIDS has on individuals.
On the first day of shooting, crews filmed Steve Angius asking his family to take him to the hospital. He died the next day, Nov. 25.
"Grown men cry when they watch this thing," Hasenpflug said.
by CNB