Published 2005-10-26T00:00:00Z”/>

Kristina Wing<br>Staff Writer

Pumpkin orange and bat black used to dominate the Halloween-holiday month, but times have changed and pink isn’t just for the panther or the girl group in “Grease.” Pink means it’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

October has been dedicated to raise awareness in the fight against breast cancer, and Chico isn’t on the sidelines. In 2005, an estimated 211,300 women and 1,300 men will learn they have breast cancer, and 40,200 people are expected to die from the disease, according to the American Cancer Society’s Web site. Student organizations on campus and members of the community have all taken part this year to help raise awareness.

As students enter the A.S. Bookstore, it’s hard for them to miss the all-pink podium that’s been proudly displayed all month.

Students can support a cause by adding accessories to their outfits and their cars. The display has everything from pink “Chico State girl” coffee mugs and pink candle holders to books on breast cancer survivors. It also has car magnets in the shape of the pink ribbons that say “find the cure.”

Beside car magnets, the display has the shirt pins. Even a water bottle, pink from cap to bottom, stands on display. A portion of the proceeds from the pink pins will be donated to the Lynn Sage Cancer Research Foundation.

The Women’s Center offered information on breast cancer at a table in the Bell Memorial Union on Thursday. It also had the traditional handmade pink ribbons. Volunteers from the American Cancer Society’s Chico office cut the ribbons. Two students passed out the ribbons to anyone who wanted to add a pinch of pink to their wardrobe.

Kellie Diplacito, an organizational communications major at Chico State, was one of the students who helped pass out the ribbons.

“We are all connected to breast cancer in some way,” Diplacito said, “even if it doesn’t necessarily affect us in college.”

A bookmark from the American Cancer Society encouraged clinical breast exams every three years for people in their 20s and 30s and every year starting at 40.

Some associate breast cancer with older age and think it only affects females, but it can attack men and occur at any age.

The Health Professionals Association was interested in what students knew about breast cancer, so on Oct. 19 during the health fair in the Free Speech Area, they passed out a game with breast cancer facts.

They also gave away a few prizes — pink, of course. Most were breast cancer awareness fundraisers from Target and Wal-Mart, said Katie Surface, president of the association at Chico State.

Another organization that got involved in the fight was Chico Nursing Students Association at Chico State, which dedicated part of its monthly bulletin board in Holt Hall to promoting attention to medical issues like breast cancer awareness.

Thursday at 5:30 p.m., the Chico Business and Professional Women will host “Every Month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month,” a dinner meeting where 21-year breast cancer survivor Wendy Azevedo will be the guest speaker. The dinner is open to the public and costs $13.

Azevedo formed the Beyond Breast Cancer support group through Enloe Medical Center in 1987. She also started the Chico-based group known as the Think Pink Team, which prides itself on saving lives in Butte County through raising awareness.

For students interested in getting involved with breast cancer awareness month, the American Cancer Society’s Web site even offers step-by-step instructions on making pink ribbons.

The Web site encourages people to wear the pink ribbons to honor survivors, remember those lost to the disease and to support the search for a cure.

Kristina Wing can be reached at

<a href= “mailto:[email protected]”>[email protected]</a>