Womyn's Concerns and the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance will present the first-ever Conference on Women's Health and Wellness this weekend.

Abortion, natural birth control methods, men stopping violence, transgenderism and alternative identities in Disney culture will be discussed.

"The reason we started the conference was to address the more specific issues of women's health, including emotional, physical, social and political welfare," said event co-organizer Missy Mazaferro, a 2001 Penn State alumna.

Although the conference is mainly geared toward women, Mazaferro said men are welcome and encouraged to attend.

"Women's health is somewhat of a mystery to men, and it's good for them to learn about it because they all have mothers, sisters or partners whose health affects them," she said.

Mutual respect between the genders is another objective, said Katelyn Belyus (junior-English), conference co-organizer conference.

"The conference is not meant to make political statements; we want both men and women to just come out and talk," she said. "It's important to take back into our own homes what we learn and start taking control of our own lives."

The conference consists of seven sessions of presentations with coinciding workshops, featuring more than 15 speakers from across the country.

Molly Carey, also a 2001 graduate, is one of the speakers featured in the first session of the conference. Carey will be giving a presentation on self-cervical examination.

"The more you know about how your body works, the more power you have to take care of yourself and your health," Carey said. Four keynote speakers will be making presentations during the course of the weekend. Sarah Weddington, the lawyer who won the 1973 Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade, will speak about abortion rights from 11:15 a.m to 12:45 p.m. tomorrow.

From 1:30 to 3 p.m. tomorrow, Wendy Sanford will present "Our Bodies, Ourselves: Body Image, Self-Care and Sexual Choices for Women." Sanford is one of the founding members of the Boston Women's Health Book Collective.

Also tomorrow, author Leslie Feinberg will be speaking about "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Health Liberation" from 3:15 to 4:45 p.m.

The last keynote, Patrick Califia-Rice, will speak from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Califia-Rice, the author of "Macho Sluts and Melting Point," will present "Sex, Relationships, and Transgenderism." All the keynotes are speaking in 110 Wartik.

From 8 to 9 p.m. tomorrow, visitors have the chance to get their books signed by the keynotes at Webster's Bookstore Café, 128 S. Allen St. To attend an event, visitors must register at Wartik Building.

The conference is free for students with a Penn State ID card. For non-students, a three-day pass is $5 in advance and $10 at the door, and a one-day pass is $2 in advance and $3 at the door.

For more information and a complete schedule of events, see www.geocities.com/womens_health_conference2002.