Yale Bulletin and Calendar

May 31-June 21, 1999

Volume 27, Number 33

Prostate Cancer Awareness Stamp
to be unveiled at campus event

The Yale Cancer Center (YCC) will observe National Cancer Survivors Day on Thursday, June 3, with workshops and a luncheon for cancer survivors, and a tribute to the U.S. Postal Service.

WTNH-Channel 8 meteorologist Mel Goldstein will be master of ceremonies for the event, which will take place 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. in the Jane Ellen Hope Building, 315 Cedar St.

Cancer patients and survivors and their families are invited to participate in workshops on such topics as "Life After Cancer Treatment," "Healing Through the Arts," "Surfing the Net for Cancer Information," "Cancer Genetics," "Exercise and Nutrition," "Reflexology," "Acupuncture" and "Reiki." The day's activities also will include an outdoor luncheon on the patio of Edward S. Harkness Memorial Hall, 367 Cedar St.

During the luncheon at noon, the U.S. Postal Service will be honored for its efforts to heighten awareness of cancer, and the new Prostate Cancer Awareness Stamp will be unveiled. This is the third stamp the U.S. Post Office has issued in recent years to increase public awareness about cancer and to raise funds for cancer research.

In addition to Goldstein, a cancer survivor himself, other featured speakers will be Dr. Vincent T. DeVita Jr., director of the Yale Cancer Center; Dr. John Colberg, assistant professor of surgery at the School of Medicine; and Winston Dyer, board member of the National Prostate Cancer Coalition.

The message on this year's stamp, "Annual check-ups and tests," promotes the importance of early detection and treatment of prostate cancer. An estimated 37,000 men nationwise are expected to die of the disease this year -- 400 in Connecticut alone -- making prostate cancer the second leading cause of cancer death in men after lung cancer. Mortality rates among African-American men are over twice as high as rates in white men. Men 50 and older are encouraged to have a digital rectal exam of the prostate gland and a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test every year. African-Americans and other men at high risk for prostate cancer -- such as men with a family history of the disease -- should be tested at an earlier age, say doctors.

An estimated 1.2 million people are expected to be diagnosed with new cases of cancer this year. With early detection and treatment, 60 percent are expected to survive for at least five years. Today, there are approximately 8 million cancer survivors in the United States.

Limited-edition first-day stamp covers will be available. They feature a commemorative cachet designed by Darien, Connecticut, artist Laura Wyn Thompson, whose husband, Roger, is a prostate cancer survivor. The first-day-of-issue postmark was created by another prostate cancer survivor, Steve Corman of Stamford, Connecticut.

The Cancer Survivors Day/Prostate Cancer Awareness Stamp program is free and open to the public, though registration is required. For more information or to register, call 688-2000.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Yale celebrates 298th Commencement
Yale launching a more user-friendly home page on the World Wide Web
Anthony T. Kronman reappointed as Dean of Law School
Festival will bring world of art and ideas to city
Endowed Professorships
New Haven attorney Julie Carter joins Office of General Counsel
To eat well, relax at the table, advises master chef Pépin
Reunion programs will both educate and entertain returning alumni
Some Yale graduates dancing down a different path
Yale's new student-built solar car headed for Sunracye '99
New alumnae's nursing training included health work overseas
Harold Samuel dies; brought musicians' archives to Yale
Dining staff friendliness ranks high on survey
Prostate Cancer Awareness Stamp to be unveiled at campus event
Conference to explore the future of language
Dr. William F. Collins is recognized for lifetime contributions to neurosurgery