Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council members hope to create a greater awareness of AIDS in the Penn State Community during Spring Week.

Spring Week, an annual greek tradition at Penn State, began as a way to celebrate greek pride, said Jennifer DiMucci, PHC associate vice president. Annual greek participation in the AIDS walks sponsored by the AIDS Project has highlighted the week's focus in recent years. This year's spring week will last for seven days, a longer amount of time than last year's weekend-long event. The theme of the week will be "Paws for the Cause," a pun intended to make Penn State students think about AIDS awareness, said Marissa Naspinski, Spring Week overall chair. The week's finale will be the AIDS Walk, which will start Sunday, April 14. The walk will begin at Central Parklet on South Fraser Street, after a step show sponsored by National Pan-Hellenic Council. The step show is part of NPHC's Greek Week, which will occur at the same time as Spring Week.

In addition to the step show, events including a discussion on movies, a contest based on Olympic events and various service projects will be a part of Greek Week, NPHC President Chris Chambers said. The greek governing bodies hope to combine Spring Week and Greek Week into a single event in the future, DiMucci said.

"Every year, they happen to fall on the same week, so we're trying, for next year, to pair the weeks for a greek unity theme," she said. Fifty-two IFC fraternities and 21 PHC sororities are scheduled to participate in the AIDS Walk, DiMucci said. Six members of each organization are scheduled to walk, although more members usually participate. Donations to the AIDS Walk come from part of the cover charge fraternities pay to participate in the week and the proceeds made from a raffle, Naspinski said. She added that an activity new to this year's Spring Week would also help fund the walk. The proceeds from the cover charge of an all-ages party on Wednesday at Tony's Big Easy, McAllister Alley, will go to funding the AIDS Walk, Naspinski said.

Spring Week will open Monday with a speech on safe sex and sex under the influence of substances by Joel Goldman, said Justin Fanelli, IFC vice president. Goldman, who contracted HIV while a member of a fraternity at Indiana University, has spoken about his experiences before at Penn State. The speech will take place at 7 p.m. in 101 Thomas. Among other events planned for the week will be the Greek Oscars, an awards ceremony for members of the entire greek community, Fanelli said. A block party is planned for Friday, which will include a chariot race.

Each chariot will hold two sorority members and be drawn by four fraternity members over a distance of a few hundred feet, said Terry Boles, IFC associate vice president. Twenty chariots are scheduled to compete in the circuit.

While stressing the importance of Spring Week as a way to build AIDS awareness, DiMucci said the week is also about having fun. The money raised for AIDS helps to "take the edge off its reputation as a huge greek party week," she said.

"It should be really fun," DiMucci said. "I'm really looking forward to it this year."