The 2008 Breast Cancer Walk-A-Thon takes place from noon to 3 p.m. at the Indoor Athletic Complex.

“The event is open to the public” said Spring Lake senior Krishele Guzman. “One-hundred percent of profits will go directly to the organization.”

The proceeds will go directly to the Susan G. Komen Organization.

The Komen Organization is a worldwide effort to raise awareness about the effects of breast cancer, as well as to raise funds toward research to find a cure for breast cancer. The Walk-A-Thon is being put on by members of associate physical education and sports professor Vincent Mumford’s PES 320: Foundations of Sports Management class.

Lakeview junior Katie Christensen, project leader for the Walk-A-Thon, said the event has required a lot of preparation.

“We started this project at the beginning of the semester; everyone involved with this project has worked long and hard to get to this point. It has been a lot of work,” she said.

Christensen said she hopes the event will raise at least $1,000 and draw 275 people. In addition to the Walk-A-Thon, Christensen and her group have acquired some items that will be auctioned off during a silent auction, which will occur during the Walk-A-Thon.

The items that will be auctioned off have been donated by local businesses, and include a pair of Red Wings tickets and an autographed Red Wings jersey.

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“You’ve got to speak and write everything through your heart when you do things like this,” he said. “Writing from the heart is the only way that you can do something like this.”

Monday night in the Bovee University Center Auditorium, Katz and Anaturale shared their feelings on being transgender through interpretive raps and slam poems.

Katz, who is from Miami, is transgender. He has been on the road full-time for five years, performing in front of college students and transgender conferences across the nation.

Students Against Discrimination was the main sponsor of the event.

Tamika Watson, SAD president, wanted to bring the transgender issue to Central Michigan University students.

“There are few homosexual, transgender and discrimination forums and presentations at CMU,” the Auburn Hills senior said. “We just wanted to give the students an open door to come in and educate them on these several issues.”

For Watson and other SAD members, education and awareness are their goals when dealing with these sensitive topics.

Katz, also known as Athens Boys Choir, reached his audience through his poems, which he did completely freestyle and without the aid of music. Katz performed six poems that dealt primarily with his struggles and triumphs of being a transgender person in today’s society.

One of his poems, “Momma Needs a Hug,” dealt with the good and the bad things America has to offer as a country, especially the relationship between an individual and the government.

Anaturale, from Asheville, N.C., is also transgender. He used mixed soundtracks and beats with his lyrics to get across his messages of his issues of growing up transgender in the south. Anaturale said the two have known each other for “many years.”

Both performers kept the entire audience energetic and into their program.

“I was into the show,” said Amanda Klosterman, a Portage sophomore. “(Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) rights are something that interests me.”

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