Poini

Fitchburg State College's student newspaper

Student
goes the
extra mile
BY S A R IA H A R M S T R O N G
From May 16 to 17, thousands of people
will walk 39 miles in the seventh annual
Boston A von Walk for Breast Cancer.
Yarisbeth Vega, a senior business
accounting major at FSC, will be walking
with them.
"I've gotten involved because my uncle
died last year of breast cancer," says Vega.
"Also, my inspiration is a good friend
of mine, her name is Stella M artinez, [a]
breast-cancer survivor."
Vega knows that her uncle's breast can-
cer was unusual. A ccording to the A merican
Cancer Society, it is "about 100 times less
common among men than among women."
Last year the A merican Cancer Society
estimated that nearly 2,000 men would be
diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008. "Men
and women with the same stage of breast
cancer have a fairly similar outlook for sur-
vival," the society notes.
A few months after her uncle's death in
September 2008, Vega signed up for the
walk.
Once signed up, a participant is com-
mitted to raising $1,800 for the Avon Walk.
"If you don't have the money by May 15th
your credit card will be charged, because
you have a commitment with the founda-
tion," says Vega.
To raise money, Vega first went to family
and friends. She also spent hours collecting
money from students on campus.
But with the May 15 deadline quickly
approaching, she was still a few hundred
dollars short.
So at the final Senate meeting of the
semester, Vega appealed to the Student
Graduating seniors realize they're stepping into a tough job market.
Grads walking to
an uncertain futu
BY CA R LI E R O Y
Although graduation is a word that
should bring joy and excitement, some
soon-to-be graduates are facing it with
fear.
With unemployment rising and the
economy turning downward, the prospect
of findine that first iob seems dauntins.
ing season than they hired from the class
of2008.
"I'm not even sure I 'll find a job when
I graduate," said Cynthia Febo, a senior
majoring in English secondary education.
"People always said, 'T hey always need
teachers' when I told them I was going
into education. With all of the teacher
Borge
alwaj
"IV
fighte
towar
and ]
they'i
said.'