wake up phone - dumb question

When my screen goes black I wake up the phone by opening the slider.  It is too hard to get my finger on the power button.  Is there an easier way, or backlight configuration setting?  I would prefer to just tap the screen.

Hello Atomic2Mod, I am new to the board as of 6/26/2010.  Is there a string in the forum that gives a step by step instructions on how to configure , say the ppt button to do a 'screen wake up'?  When i go to the buttons settings, i only see two  buttons that can be reprogrammed, and when i select ppt, i only get a certain set of options (none of which is for wake-up')