[113]WOMEN’S CENTER FOCUSES ON DANGER AND DISEASE IN OCTOBER

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 24, 2008EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081

WOMEN’S CENTER FOCUSES ON DANGER AND DISEASE IN OCTOBER
Events Highlight Awareness of Perils of Domestic Violence and Breast Cancer

(MURFREESBORO) – The June Anderson Women’s Center (JAWC) at MTSU will augment its constant concern for the health and safety of women and girls in October with observances of Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Janine Latus, author of If I Am Missing or Dead—A Sister’s Story of Love, Murder and Liberation, will be the keynote speaker for Domestic Violence Awareness Month activities. Latus will deliver her address at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 7, in Tom H. Jackson Hall with a reception and book signing to follow. Additionally, Latus’ book will be the focus of discussion at the JAWC’s first “Our Friends/Our Selves Book Club” meeting of the new academic year from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 29, at the center, Room 206 in the James Union Building. An international best-seller, If I Am Missing or Dead chronicles Latus’ courage in breaking out of a repressive marriage only to learn that her younger sister, Amy, had been murdered by her boyfriend. A note Amy left in 2002 foreshadowed her own demise. She went missing in Knoxville, Tenn., on July 4 of that year. The book is a gut-wrenching exploration of how two successful, intelligent women could fall for men who would disrespect and abuse them, even to the point of physical violence. Terri Johnson, JAWC director, says, “Our keynote speaker will make one of the most powerful and personal presentations ever on the trauma and tragedy of domestic violence. Ms. Latus graciously also is making time to visit classes on campus and community groups.” Jennifer Rawls, executive director of the Tennessee Economic Council for Women, will deliver a presentation on “The Economics of Domestic Violence” from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1, in the Hazlewood Room of the James Union Building. Also in October, the JAWC will present a breast cancer keychain/educational awareness workshop from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21, in the Hazlewood Room. Participants will assemble key chains to take home with them. The bead sizes on the key chains represent the various sizes of lumps found in mammograms and breast self-examinations.
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The key chains are offered by the Breast Health Initiative, a program of the Student Community Health Coalition at the Vanderbilt Center for Health Services in Nashville. The program is funded partially by the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and the Tennessee Commission on National and Community Service. Offices and departments around campus will provide ribbons made by the Women’s Center throughout the month of October—purple ribbons for domestic violence awareness and pink ribbons for breast cancer awareness. All events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact the June Anderson Women’s Center at 615-898-2193 or jawc@mtsu.edu.

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ATTENTION, MEDIA: For a color jpeg photo of Janine Latus, author of If I Am Missing or Dead—A Sister’s Story of Love, Murder and Liberation, contact Gina Logue in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.