Clarksville, Ark. --- Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in America, affecting 1 in 6 men.?And as Ozarks associate professor of biology Dr. Sean Coleman points out, that means approximately 100 of the men who are here at Ozarks now are at risk of developing the cancer at some point in their life.
This year, the Ozarks Biological Society (OBS) helped promote awareness about prostate cancer and raised money to help support research by sponsoring Ozarks’ annual "Movember Stache" contest.
OBS sold these Movember T-shirts to help raise money to support prostate cancer research.
Following the example started in 2004 by the Movember Foundation, the men at Ozarks were encouraged to "grow a Mo" during the month of November. OBS President Andrea Muffuletto said that nine Ozarks men took up the challenge. Vying for the title of best "Movember Stache" were Dr. Dave Daily, Dr. Sean Coleman, Dr. Jesse Weiss, Dr. Joel Hagaman, Dr. Brian McFarland, Tanner Holman, Travis Murnan, Ben Martin and Mike Prusator. The winner was selected during a campus-wide vote on November 29 - each donation of 10 cents counted as one vote. When the donations were counted, the voters awarded the title of best "Movember Stache" to Dr. Joel Hagaman, Ozarks assistant professor of psychology. Honorable mention went to Dr. Sean Coleman & Travis Murnan.
"All proceeds are going to the Prostate Cancer Foundation," Muffuletto said. "PCF is the leading philanthropic organization funding and accelerating prostate cancer research globally."
Other Movember events held on campus included sale of Movember T-shirts, "fingerstache" temporary tattoos and fake mustaches. In addition, students organized a "Mustache Movie event" in King Hall. According to Jacob Nall, one of the movie event organizers, the movies "Smokey and the Bandit" and "Mr. Baseball" feature actors (Burt Reynolds and Tom Selleck) who sport the most iconic form of facial hair a man can possess. "We looked back at those classic mustaches that shaped the movie scene of the 1970’s and 1980’s," Nall said. "We also discussed what Movember means, and talked about how it has moved into a national representation of prostate cancer victims and survivors."
To learn more about the Movember movement and the Prostate Cancer Foundation, go to http://us.movember.com/.
Topics: Community Events