Keeley Sheehan, Executive Editor

            Zombies invaded the Student Union on Friday for the Strategic and Role Playing Association zombie walk to raise awareness for the fight against brain cancer.

            SARPA began planning for the walk in July. The group modeled the walk after zombie walks held in downtown Buffalo, and thought it would be an interesting way to promote brain cancer awareness, according to Thomas Smith, president of SARPA.

            “You can’t go wrong with zombies,” Smith said. & ldquo;We could’ve been ninjas but that wouldn’t have made sense.”

            Participants began registering for the walk at around 2 p.m. SARPA set up a zombie make-up station in the Union to help students create fake festering wounds and blood-stained zombie costumes.

            The idea of a zombie walk on campus started as a joke, according to Mark Ocrasinski, vice president of SARPA. He and Treasurer Julia Gonzalez brought the idea to the group.

            “We thought it was an awesome idea and we should do one here,” Gonzalez said.

            SARPA teamed up with the new group Students Supporting Brain Tumor Research when both clubs were at the freshmen orientation this summer.

            “A few representatives saw our table and thought it would be a good idea for the club devoted to brain tumor research to hop on board an event to support just that,” said Christine Chonka, vice president of SSBTR.

            Over 200,000 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with a brain tumor in the next year. Brain tumors are the leading cause of solid tumor cancer death in children under the age of 20 and the third leading cause of cancer death in young adults ages 20 to 39, according to the National Brain Tumor Society Web site.

            “There is no cure and whether it’s cancerous or not the tumor can have the same debilitating effects,” said Chelsea Monroe, president of SSBTR.

            Chonka thought the walk was successful in raising awareness.

            “I also know many people who have been affected by brain tumors, either in themselves or a loved one,” Chonka said. “Brain tumors do not discriminate. They can affect anyone at any age.”

            Brain tumors are more common and dangerous than many people realize, Chonka said.

            “I think having a zombie walk to raise brain tumor awareness and support research is a good idea, especially for college students,” she said. “It’s an amusing play on the idea of zombies and brains that still gets the word out about the prevalence of brain tumors.”

E-mail: features@ubspectrum.com