Have you ever seen those Liberty Mutual insurance commercials?

You know the ones I'm talking about. The ones that show people in a variety of situations going out of their way to help complete strangers while a voiceover says, "When it's people who do the right thing, they call it being responsible…"

It's a nice hook. Not exactly sure how effective it is at selling insurance, but the campaign offers an interesting life concept — simple acts of selflessness have a certain "trickle-down" quality.

Anyway, that's what I thought of when I heard that the women's basketball team was participating in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) "Pink Zone" initiative again this year.

The Golden Eagles will don pink jerseys for Sunday afternoon's game against West Virginia. They will encourage fans to pack the Al McGuire center with pink clothing and will sell pink t-shirts and solicit pledges benefiting breast cancer research for every made 3-point basket.

It's a simple act, but it's a simple act that holds a world of value to thousands of people with loved ones affected by breast cancer. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, more than 186,000 women were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 (the most recent data available). I'd be willing to bet that if you thought long enough, you could six-degree yourself to someone dealing with the effects of breast cancer.

I'm no different.

In 2005, my aunt (actually, my great aunt, but we like to make her feel younger) was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer. It's a relatively rare form of the disease that was fairly advanced. She didn't have many options.

She needed chemotherapy treatments. She needed radiation treatments. She lost her hair. She had one breast removed.

But she survived. She'll never be completely rid of her cancer, but it's been under control now for almost three years. She's lucky. I'm lucky. My family is lucky.

Still, through the whole process, I felt helpless. What was I, an 18-year-old kid just starting college, supposed to do when doctors couldn't even solve the problem?

That's the question "Pink Zone" answers. It's less about doing and more about showing. Will wearing pink sweatpants and sitting in the Al McGuire Center convince cancer to quit? Of course not.

But it will show that you care, that you are trying to do something.

Marquette forward Jocelyn Mellen gets it. Last year Mellen, along with teammates Kelly Lam and Courtney Weibel, donated locks of hair to Pantene's "Beautiful Lengths" program. That hair went toward the creation of affordable wigs for cancer patients.

It was a way for her to show she cared for teammate Erin Monfre, who had recently lost her mother to cancer.

"It was especially for Erin, because that hit home for our whole team," said Mellen, who donated 10 inches last year. "The fact that cutting something I don't really care about, my hair, to give to somebody with cancer was kind of a no brainer."

Marquette will be supporting the Beautiful Lengths program again this year, and participants can donate during halftime of Sunday's game.

Even if that doesn't work for you (the minimum donation is eight inches of hair), you can still help. As part of the goodwill trickle-down, I know I'll be at the Al for Sunday's game.

It won't be to support Marquette, or even the women's basketball team. But to support the people I know, the people I care about, that have been affected by cancer. You might not be able to fix cancer, but you can sure as hell show you care.

And that's doing the right thing.

For more information on participating in Marquette's "Kindest Cuts" campaign, e-mail Kimberly Mueller at [email protected] or visit gomarquette.com.