Spartan Daily - Serving San Jose State University since 1934

Issue date: 11/23/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Michelle Gachet Derrick Buffi, a sophomore social science major, bowls during the Strike Out Lung Cancer event Thursday.

Media Credit: Michelle Gachet Senior math major, Brad Duchanan bowls during the Strike Out Lung Cancer event Thursday.

In recognition of Lung Cancer Awareness Month, about 20 students attended the "Strike Out Lung Cancer" event Wednesday night in the Student Union.

Tracy Sestili, founder of the Beverly Fund Lung Cancer Foundation, said the purpose of the event was to draw attention to the often forgotten awareness month.

"When you look at October, you think it's just breast cancer awareness month, but there are other diseases," she said. "Every disease has a month, and there's only 12 months in a year, so we all share."

Chase Henderson, a senior business finance major, said he doesn't know a lot about lung cancer, but said he has family members who've battled other types of cancer.

"I think it's good to support anything that is for cancer research," he said. "I haven't dealt with that kind of stuff personally - I just think they are all really horrible."

Sestili said November is not only a month to spread awareness for lung cancer, but it is also Pancreatic Cancer Awareness month, as well as Diabetes Awareness month.

"I think it's important for youth to understand what all the risk and causes of lung cancer are," she said. "It's not just tobacco - tobacco is a bad habit."

Sestili said the idea for the foundation came after discovering her mother had lung cancer. She said her family struggled to find a lot of readily available information about the disease.

"My mom (Beverly) died from lung cancer in 2006, five weeks before I got married," she said. "I was doing all this research … I couldn't find anything out there that was in easy to understand terms. Everything was in medical (jargon)."

Sestili said there are other causes of lung cancer besides smoking, such as exposure to radon, a radioactive gas, and asbestos, a naturally occurring silicate mineral.

Students who attended the event paid a $5 entry fee, which included a raffle ticket and a game of bowling. All of the proceeds were donated to The Beverly Fund Lung Cancer Foundation.

Some of the prizes included a mystery bag, Bud Light speaker box and gift baskets.

"I'd just be happy to win any of them," said Kirt Dodge, a senior social science major. "Maybe the chocolate basket - get that for my mom."

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