The UCF Knights (8-3; 6-1 C-USA) football team delivered a crushing defeat to the Tulane Green Wave (4-7; 2-5 C-USA) in New Orleans, LA this past Saturday. UCF dominated the game on all fronts and lead Tulane 31-0 by the end of the first quarter. The Knights moved closer to clinching the 2010 C-USA Eastern Division Crown and hosting the Championship Game at Bright House Networks Stadium on 12/4. That will happen as long as the Knights take care of business this Saturday against the Memphis Tigers (1-10; 0-7 C-USA). UCF is also inching closer to being a ranked team once more. After falling to Southern Miss (8-3; 5-2 C-USA), the Knights fell out of the Top 25. But after the win against Tulane, UCF came in at #27 in the Coaches Poll. A major victory against Memphis could be enough to land the Knights back in the rankings. Conference USA also announced today that despite concern the SEC would push for an opponent from the Big East for the Liberty Bowl, its champion would be sent to Memphis on 12/31 for the game. Early predictions are pitting the Knights against the Georgia Bulldogs or the Tennessee Volunteers.
A study appearing today in the New England Journal of Medicine highlights research findings that the antiretroviral drug Truvada is highly effective at preventing HIV infection in men who have sex with men (MSM). Researchers studied the effect of Truvada in a sample of 2,500 MSM in San Francisco, CA and Lima, Peru. While infection rates declined an average of 44%; when participants took the drug precisely as prescribed, its efficacy rose to up to 90%! Adverse effects are low and included nausea, increased creatinine, and weight loss. The finding holds promise that perhaps pre-exposure prophylactic treatment could be the key to greatly reducing infection rates in the population at most risk. Of great concern, however is the cost. In the US, Truvada costs between $12,000-$14,000 annually. In addition, Gilead, the maker of the drug needs to pursue FDA approval for the pre-exposure indication, which could take months. 
Still not sure who to vote for on election day? Then use the Equality Florida Voter’s Guide to help cast your vote. One word of caution: Equality Florida has endorsed Democrat Kendrick Meek for US Senate. While Meek is an excellent candidate, strongly consider voting for Charlie Crist as the main objective in the Senate race needs to be to stop Marco Rubio at all cost. Rubio is vehemently anti-gay and is a product of the Tea Party movement. Although Crist stops short of supporting full marriage equality, his chances of besting Rubio are much better than Meek and he has improved dramatically on his stances on gay rights. Click below for Equality Florida’s Voter’s Guide.
