Students use their lips to raise awareness

Students put their lips in motion Thursday afternoon to raise awareness
about safe sex and AIDS.

Mount Pleasant graduate student Katie Beckman – who co-teaches IPC
255A: Event Planning – coordinated a group of students to arrange “Kiss
for a Cause,” with the goal of raising both education and money.

The event had kissing contests as well as booths outside Finch
Fieldhouse with information about various sexual topics.

“Kissing is a great way to show intimacy without having sex,”
Beckman said. “It’s a great way to promote coupleness rather than
promiscuity.”

Harrison senior Nick Linindoll, organizer of “Kiss for a Cause,”
said the openness of the displays was key to reaching people.

“That’s the whole purpose: to get people talking about sex and
healthy relationships who might’ve been uncomfortable before,” he said.

The event was not completely about education, though.

A kissing booth was set up to raise money – 25 cents for a Hershey’s
kiss, 50 cents for kiss on the hand or a hug or $1 for a kiss on the
cheek.

All proceeds raised from “Kiss for a Cause” will go to Sexual
Aggression Peer Advocates.

Contest participants had to guess the flavor of the Jolly Rancher in
their partner’s mouth and pass a card to their partner’s mouth by
blowing.

Farmington Hills sophomore Jaymie Morton and boyfriend, Novi junior
Derrick Welsbacher, won the first kissing contest game.

Morton and Welsbacher also won the event’s kissing marathon, where
they kissed 50 consecutive minutes, touching only their lips.