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Founded last fall by identical sophomore twins Barie and Tracy Salmon (Scotch Plains, N.J.), Student Movement Against Cancer (SMAC) has over 100 members after its first semester, and as its first campus event, it will host a Relay for Life.
The 12-hour Relay for Life will start at 7 p.m. Friday, April 7 on the Quad. Students, teachers, administrators, and family members should pre-register by contacting Barie or Tracy. Registration is $10 and will be donated to the American Cancer Society. Donors can list the names of those who have been touched by cancer on luminaries that will line the “track.” Luminaries will be sold for $10 each on the team web site. Participants are encouraged to sell luminaries to family and friends as well. More information about registration and fundraising can be found at the Lafayette team web site.
Each registrant will be placed on a team and throughout the night at least one member of the team will be walking around the Quad. Participants are advised to bring flashlights, warm clothing, food, sleeping bags, and tents. In the event of rain, the relay will move inside Farinon College Center. Activities and entertainment will be provided all evening. President Dan Weiss has organized a team and plans to walk with students through the night.
The original SMAC was founded at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School in New Jersey by a junior diagnosed with cancer and his friends. According to Barie, the group grew to over 200 members, making it the largest club at the high school, offering help to other cancer victims. The students held successful fundraisers and started a Relay for Life at the request of American Cancer Society. When the founders graduated, Barie and Tracy became executive board members at their high school and were asked to start a chapter of SMAC wherever they went to college.
“When we were both very young, our grandmother died of breast cancer. We were too young to remember and although we hear stories about her and how similar we are to her, we wish she could have lived long enough for us to know her,” says Barie. “[Then] when we were freshmen in high school, our friend Robbie was diagnosed with testicular cancer. We realized just how many lives cancer touched, and how great it would feel to contribute to one day finding a cure for such a horrible disease.”
Anyone interested in joining SMAC can email salmonb@lafayette.edu or salmont@lafayette, or attend a meeting. Flyers will be posted before the next meeting is held. Students interested in the club can also log on to Facebook and join the Student Movement Against Cancer group. Announcements are posted online to all members for meetings and fundraisers.
Board members of SMAC include chemistry majors Barie and Tracy, co-presidents; Trustee Scholar and chemistry major Ben Abrams ’08 (Colorado Springs, Colo.), vice president; Sara Rogers ’08 (Wayne, Pa.), secretary; Devin MaGrann ’08 (Northfield, NJ), treasurer; mathematics major Joanna Norelli ’08 (Langhorne, Pa.), public relations; and recruitment officers Michael Baumwoll ’09 (Scotch Plains, N.J.), Carolyn Romney ’08 (Avon By The Sea, NJ.), and Amy Schwartz ’06 (Scotch Plains, N.J.).
The Salmon twins find attending the same college and pursuing the same major to be a great experience.
“If there is no one else around, we know that we always have each other, and when it comes time to study, we always have a study partner,” says Barie. “We understand each other and always know what the other is going through. I think that having a twin makes it easier to meet people, especially when one comes into a new school [not knowing anyone]. I can’t even imagine what it must be like for others who never had a twin!”
“I’m glad I came to the same college with Barie,” adds Tracy. “At first we thought we wanted to go to schools near each other, but not the same one. We kept ranking our favorite colleges and both had the same list, so when we got into the same colleges, we decided to go to [Lafayette] together. We have the same friends and take most of the same classes, so luckily we get along really well! Instead of competing with each other, we try to help each other.”
Barie and Tracy are both members of the gymnastics club and coxswains on the club crew team. They also serve as hosts to incoming students.
Twin sisters Tracy (left) and Barie Salmon ’08 are the founders of a new student organization, Student Movement Against Cancer (SMAC)