David manages IT strategy and planning for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute at the NIH. He earned his undergraduate degree, despite 21 brain surgeries and a coma, from Rice University. He holds a Master’s degree in IT from GWU and is working on a Master’s of Public Health degree, majoring in epidemiology, at U of MD. David is a 30 year survivor of HIV and has made a personal study of treatments and epidemiology. He relies on nutritional supplements, but no drugs. His interest in the TWAWEZA Sanitation Project has led him to trips to Africa to study HIV in slums. His Dad enlisted at Ft Bolivar for duty in Vietnam and David was born in 1965. In addition to David’s health problems, his sister was autistic. David is soon on his way to Asia on a public health mission.

The Sheriff of Montgomery County, Darren M. Popkin, explained that in this county the Sheriff’s office is not the primary law enforcement agency but that it still has normal police authority. Its chief responsibility in this county is to handle criminals or accused people once they have entered the judicial system. The Sheriff’s office is the enforcement arm of the court system. A very large part of its work concerns domestic violence. In this county there are about 5,000 calls to 911 a year about domestic violence. After a district court commissioner has issued a warrant for arrest of a suspect, the Sheriff ‘s office acts on the warrant. About 95 % of the victims of domestic violence in the county are women. About 40 % of the assaults are committed by Latinos, many of whom are not English speakers. But the Sheriff’s office does not inquire into the immigration status of suspects. Mr. Popkin explained that he has tried to increase the efficiency of the system dealing with domestic violence so that victims are not endangered by delay.