Life Raft, a campus support group for people confronting death and lifethreatening illness, has created a new branch exclusively for the discussion of AIDS.

"People who had special concerns asked me about it and asked if...there could be a special group just like Life Raft," said Nadja B. Gould, Life Raft's clinical supervisor. The new group held its first meeting October 26.

Although the first meeting was fairly small, Gould said she expects the group to grow with time as people find out about it.

Gould said Harvard needed an extra group to deal with AIDS because "it's the major public health concern today." She said people who have AIDS, suspect they have it, or know people suffering from the disease face the knowledge that it is always fatal.

In particular, she said people who test positive for HIV, the AIDS antibody, need counseling because they are "waiting and watching and worrying about what will happen to their bodies in five to nine years," she said.

The group functions much the same as Life Raft, said Gould. Like the existing group, it offers a referral system as well as weekly meetings on the third floor of University Health Services every Wednesday from 1 to 2 p.m. All University students, faculty and staff may attend.

Life Raft provides counseling and holds weekly meetings from noon to 2 p.m. every Monday in Wadsworth House. The meetings are open to "people who have life-threatening illnesses themselves," said Gould, as well as anyone dealing with the death or illness of a family member or friend.

While Life Raft covers "a wide variety ofproblems, diseases, and experiences," AIDS is a"special kind of concern" that calls for a specialgroup, said Dr. Randolph Catlin, who counselspeople referred through the group.

Catlin said that although other special groupshave formed in the past to deal with specificdiseases, AIDS is "much more loaded with overtonesand concerns that do not have to do with thedisease itself." There is "so much mythology thatgoes along with it, so much confusion," that "it'sreally important to do as much education aspossible," he said.

"There has been an enormous increase indiscussion about AIDS in the Harvard community inthe past year," said the Rev. G. Stewart Barnes,another Life Raft counselor. He attributed thechange to AIDS Education and Outreach, whichformed last spring to teach students about thedisease