------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Jan 1994 13:33:16 EST From: EVFW91A@PRODIGY.COM(MR DAVID W BATTERSON) Subject: File 5--New AIDS BBS CAM - Computerized AIDS Ministries BBS Network by David Batterson NEW YORK--The Computerized AIDS Ministries (CAM) Resource Network is a BBS that has been attracting a broad cross-section of people among its 300 plus users. CAM BBS provides a medium through which people may obtain current information and resources to assist in ministering to persons impacted by HIV disease. CAM also provides services that help those engaged in HIV/AIDS medical treatment, caregiving, education and counseling to interact with one another, thus providing mutual support and interchange of ideas and methods. The board is a friendly and warm gathering of diverse people brought together into cyberspace by the nefarious specter of AIDS. The CAM Network is run by the health and welfare ministries program of the general board of global ministries at the United Methodist Church headquarters, New York. However, persons of all religious faiths (or none) are welcome on the BBS, and there is no proselytizing of the "unfaithful" by other BBS users. Charles Carnahan is executive director of the church's HIV/AIDS ministries. CAM's sysop is Nancy Carter. Carter provided some calling statistics for CAM. "Right now we have 318 accounts," she said. "Unused accounts age off after 60 days. We have 249 males and 69 females; we have teens on up." As for calling frequency, the CAM board stays busy. "To date, we have had 23,000 calls, Carter said. Usually we have more than 100 calls a day. This month average hours of use per day has been 17-18. It has been as high as 22 but went lower when we introduced QWK mail, and folks started to use offline readers." On CAM, a gay, white, leatherman atheist in Los Angeles might find himself exchanging thoughts and feelings with a married, heterosexual, female PWA-caregiver in the South. And it works. The BBS has a wealth of AIDS/HIV information files in its library, which grow daily. Many of these information resources have been shared with CAM by persons involved in the AIDS struggle, including health professionals. CAM also gets AIDS information files from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), such as "CDC AIDS Daily Summaries," "Effectiveness of Drugs for CMV and MAC," "Q&As Often Heard on the CDC Hotline," "AIDS and Injection Drug Use," "Use of AZT with Persons Newly Infected" and "Vaccine Trials for HIV." Other files run the gamut, with titles including "WHO Global AIDS Statistics," "World AIDS Day Logo-PCX file," "Nutrition and HIV Bibliography," "Traditional Herbal Remedies," "Lesbians & AIDS Study," and "HIV/AIDS and the Churches' Response." The board will soon be tied in with the AIDS Education and General Information Service (AEGIS), a network that supplies BBSs across the U.S. and in other countries with its thousands of files. Boards that join AEGIS must provide free access to information, and permit callers to use anonymous handles. Use of the CAM BBS is free, but they welcome donations. Donated funds help pay for CAM's costs--running over $75 thousand a year--and continue making a free BBS available for those who could not otherwise afford to use it. You can access CAM via one of two numbers: (212) 870-3953 or (800) 542-5921. Using the first number saves the program money, which it needs to maintain the toll-free 800 number for those who can't afford to call long distance. Any speed up to 9600 bits per second (bps) may be used; there will soon be support for 14.4K bps modems. When you call CAM, you enter a system that's all menu driven. First-time users are asked to identify themselves, and answer a few questions. The CAM sysop will send a full manual of operating instructions to first-time users. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ + END THIS FILE + +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+===+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=