Don't ignore it; prevent it.

That's the message many campus organizations hope to embed in the minds of the student body to help stop the spread of one of the planet's deadliest diseases, AIDS. That message will be booming from the big screen at 7 tonight as the documentary A Closer Walk is shown in Eisenhower Auditorium.

The event will also include speeches by Global AIDS Initiative president Christine MacAulay (senior-international politics), Undergraduate Student Government President Ian Rosenberger and filmmaker Robert Bilheimer.

Walk takes a look at the AIDS epidemic on a global scale and how it effects every person, whether he or she realizes it or not. Directed by Oscar nominee Bilheimer and narrated by Glenn Close and Will Smith, Walk will make its college-campus premiere at Penn State.

In 2002, Bilheimer partnered with the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation to help spread his film and its message. Robert Pilon, the foundation's senior development officer, is a Penn State graduate who helped bring the film to campus. "We used our contacts at Penn State to bring together a coalition to sponsor this," Pilon said. "We wanted this to be a collaborative effort, so we brought together 12 different organizations to make a statement that this is a unified effort to spread awareness of the disease."

One of these organizations was the Global AIDS Initiative, run by MacAulay. The movie is arriving on campus at a pivotal time for the campaign against AIDS, MacAulay said.

"This past year has been a big year for AIDS awareness at Penn State," she said. "A survey said that over half of Penn Staters said they know little or very little about AIDS. This is happening at a time when one in 500 college kids is infected with HIV."

Pilon added that there is increasing apathy in the United States about HIV and AIDS, and that people believe it's a problem of the past and of less importance.

"I think the reason why we need to get this movie out there now is because there is a growing complacency in this country about AIDS," he said. "People think it's going away and that it's not causing as much damage as it is. The film does a wonderful job at showing the AIDS pandemic as a worldwide problem, and not just affecting certain countries or demographics."

Jessica Rondash (junior-film) said the film medium is one of the most powerful to convey a message as important as that of A Closer Walk.

"Reading about something like AIDS doesn't let someone see it, so it's harder to empathize," she said. "Television is too cold and journalistic, so emotion is lost, but a good documentary film can strike the right chords to make people realize that what they are seeing is real and terrible."

First screened more than a year ago, Walk has been shown around the world. Pilon said he hopes it will continue to be shown on college campuses across the nation.

"Bob [Bilheimer] wants this to become a movement," he said. "He wants everyone to walk the walk, as he puts it, and wants everyone to know about the pandemic and know that they can do something about it."

MacAulay said she hopes for a large turnout tonight and that word will spread to those who did not see the film that more can and must be done to fight the spread of AIDS.

"[This movie provides] a great opportunity to raise awareness and let students know that we should feel empowered to make a difference," she said.

"We as students can help stop the spread of AIDS. This movie will hopefully help spread that message."