La Mala Educación

Sometimes just because someone goes to college (or runs a university) doesn't always mean they are educated. Officials at Chennai's well-known PSNA College of Technology have fired four members of their kitchen staff for being HIV positive. Three men and one woman have been sacked from their hostel positions after they were tested for the virus. To add insult to injury, the discriminatory decision was made right before the South Indian festival of Pongal.

For a science-orientated school, PSNA's management sure ignores the wealth of research on serotransmission. When retold that HIV cannot be passed through food, college official S. Ramkrishnan ignored the facts stating that, "[they] cannot take the risk of having HIV positive cooks working in the college mess." Seeing how concerned Ramkrishnan is of the health of his students, I hope his cooks are routinely checked for influenza, jaundice, and you know, any other disease that actually spreads through food.

And of course, the staff fired are all socially and economically disadvantaged -- prime meat for upper class manipulation. But don't lose all hope, HIV/AIDS rights lawyer Anand Grover has spoken out about the case. Grover points out that, "Mumbai and Delhi high courts have ruled that a person living with HIV could not be denied opportunity of employment." I hope he takes the case -- anyone else channeling Denzel Washington circa Philadelphia?