In addition to housing Columbus Day, Halloween and Oktoberfest, the month of October includes the highest concentration of “monthly observances.”

According to “Chase’s Calendar of Events,” a book that contains national and international holidays and special events, October has approximately 60 monthly observances. The month with the second-highest number of observances is May, with 51.

The ground rules are: find a purpose, spread the word and get the ball moving, said Holly McGuire, editor in chief of “Chase’s Calendar of Events.”

Finally, when you have the grassroots firmly in place, which could include a nod from your local government, give McGuire a call – unless you’re so good, they call you.

However, dedicating a month doesn’t always translate into successful awareness.

Many people feel as though they’re overwhelmed by the amount of observations, consequently ignoring their cause or purpose, McGuire said.

“I think it’ll be tough to gain traction and move forward,” McGuire said, suggesting that more events could dilute the strength of monthly observances but noting that their annual book is still going strong – the 50th edition was released earlier this year.

So, whether to gain recognition, raise awareness or just to make us smile (Sarcastic Awareness Month), these special months give people a reason to celebrate their culture and beliefs.

Gay and Lesbian History Month:

The month, which aims at revisiting the long path pioneered by the gay and lesbian community, hopes to create lasting memories for the future generations.

The ISU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Ally Alliance has embraced the month, hosting guest speakers, showing films holding a drag show Thursday night.

“Having the whole month gives you a lot of time to create events and educate others,” said Christine Peterson, president of the LGBTAA and sophomore in health and human performance.

Nationally, the month is home to Coming Out Day, which commemorates the 20th anniversary of the 1987 gay and lesbian rights march in Washington, D.C.

However, the day is also meant to highlight a sense of pride in coming out, said Myke Selha, executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Resource Center in Des Moines.

“It is meant to create an environment to support individuals as they begin to talk about themselves and who they are,” Selha said.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month:

Included in October is an observance that tries to bring awareness to one of the nation’s most deadly cancers afflicting women and men. Consequently, the month works to highlight some of the myths and facts associated with the illness and promote the importance of routine check up.

The Student Union Board hosted a Swap a T-shirt, Find a Cure event on Thursday. The event had participants design shirts, which were switched with shirts created by others.

“We just want to bring out the fact that it doesn’t have to be such a gloomy subject,” said Claribel Orellana, senior in civil engineering, who was assisting in collecting donations from the event.

Another event, Colleges Against Cancer’s Bowling for Boobs, is also meant to be a lighthearted approach to address the serious subject.

Kyla Kenkel, junior in marketing, and Ashley Nelson, senior in agricultural systems technology, said the goal was to raise awareness for ISU students and the Ames community.

The event will take place in the Memorial Union’s Underground and will be selling games for $3 and T-shirts for $10. Donations will go to the American Cancer Society.

According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 178,480 women in America will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in 2007, leaving one in eight women diagnosed with breast cancer sometime throughout their life.

Right Brainers Rule Month

Lee Silber, who started Right Brainers Rule Month, is an author and entrepreneur. He said the left-brained accepted way of thinking isn’t always the right way to go about it, citing our education system as a main deterrent from thinking creatively.

Joel Geske, associate professor of journalism and communication, whose concentration includes how the brain processes verbal and visual information, understands how the concept of creativity might be associated with right-brainers.

“The right side tends to be more visual, holistic and sees things as a big picture,” Geske said.

He also said certain ideas about left versus right brain may be overgeneralized.

“[The ability] to draw coming from the right side may be considered simplified,” he said.

However, it is this phenomenon that Silber hopes to communicate in October.

“Right brainers are seen as unorthodox, unusual, uncool – the ‘un-‘ people,” Silber said.

With this observance, Silber hopes to highlight some of the social pressures he feels are exhibited on members of the creative community.

“Since they’re creative and artistic, they’re always trying to find a new way to do something, so they go against the rules and against the norm,” Silber said.

Consequently, Geske and Silber both feel these differences set right-brained thinkers up to fail in America’s educational system.

“We as educators tend to weed out these people,” Geske said.

National Squirrel Awareness Month

In a nutshell, October is also called National Squirrel Awareness Month, an observance dedicated to what Rolf Koford, collaborative assistant professor of natural resource ecology and management, defines as “a kind of rodent that has adaptations that allows it to live in trees.”

The month not only praises your local red and gray nut-loving rodents, but also celebrities among the squirrel community.

Big names such as Twiggy, “the water-skiing squirrel” (featured in Will Ferrell’s “Anchorman”), and Bush, “the world’s most photographed squirrel,” are put on a pedestal of recognition and acorns during this 31-day observance.

However, squirrels can be more than furry tree-dwellers, said Lester Lawson, manager of facilities management for facilities planning and management.

“They can become, at times, destructive to trees when making a nest,” Lawson said.

He also said squirrels have been known to chew into wooden houses, but it hasn’t been a problem on the mostly all-brick buildings comprising those around campus.