Oct. 4, 2006

PHILADELPHIA - October is Lupus Awareness Month and to promote Lupus awareness, Temple University's men's and women's crew teams will dress in purple for their Thursday morning rows. Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the immune system, for unknown reasons, becomes hyperactive and attacks normal tissue. This attack results in inflammation and brings about symptoms, such as achy or swollen joints, persistent fever over 100 degrees, extreme fatigue, skin rashes, hair loss, and in some cases, seizures.

Temple women's crew coach Tim Hagan said, "Lupus is not as highly publi-cized as some of the other causes out there and we want to do our part in promoting Lu-pus Awareness Month."

"Temple crew is proud to help out this worthy cause," added Owl men's crew coach Gavin White. "This is one of the many ways we try to instill in our young men and women the importance of giving back to the community."

Temple University will be rowing for the Lupus Foundation of America's Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter. For more information on Lupus and how you can support the cause, log onto www.lupus.org.