October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the Women’s Center is working to raise awareness among the Tech community.”We generally set out the standard pink breast cancer awareness information tables, but this year we’re trying a new angle,” Diana Lalani, Women’s Center secretary, said. “We will be profiling a diverse group of breast cancer survivors, most of them famous, on our bulletin board and our RUC displays.”
The bulletin board outside of the center will display survivors from various backgrounds and offer insight to their experience with the disease. Information on breast health will also be displayed.
“Each individual experiences breast cancer in a different way,” Lalani said. “We hope to engage the community in these stories.”
Barbara Ehrenreich, author of “Nickel and Dimed,” is one survivor who will be featured in the displays. Her perspective on the breast cancer movement involves a different approach.
“We don’t need more ‘awareness’ of breast cancer-we’re very aware, thank you very much,” Ehrenreich said in San Francisco at a Breast Cancer Action conference. “We need treatments that work, and above all, we need to know the cause of this killer, so we can stop it before it attacks another generation.”
Lalani said, “By approaching this topic in a creative and stealth manner, we hope to educate more members of the Tech community than ever before.”
Volunteers from the Women’s Center will also set up smaller displays in the RUC on various days throughout the month with information and encouragement for students.
“These will draw attention to the fact that while breast cancer is mainly a disease of older women, young people and males are diagnosed,” Lalani said. “Our table displays in the UC will have the caption ‘What do these people have in common?”
Information and volunteer opportunities for students interested in participating in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Oct. 17 at the Hooper Eblen Center will also be available.
Students interested in other volunteer opportunities at the Women’s Center or helping with informational displays can contact Diana Lalani at womenscenter@tntech.edu or in Pennebaker Hall Room 203.
