SU hosts Spring 2008 Wellness Fair

The Spring 2008 Wellness Fair will be held tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Smith-Brown Memorial Union.
The fair is being coordinated by the Division of Student Affairs, the Baranco-Hill Student Health Center and the Southern University School of Nursing.
Various services will be available including, but not limited to, AIDs testing, vision and cancer screenings and breast exams. There will also be information on various topics such as health insurance, nutrition and STDs.
Shirley Wade, clinic administrator and nurse practitioner, is serving as a representative of student affairs and says that the coordination of the event is a joint effort with the school of nursing.
Wade expressed that she feels the wellness fair is important for students.
“One of the main reasons is because I believe that when you know better, you do better,” said Wade.
Wade also mentioned that she has been promoting the Healthy Campus 2010 campaign since she started.
“That’s a way to get the public aware of the importance of wellness. We don’t want to just heal diseases or treat people when they’re sick; we want to promote an attitude and a lifestyle of wellness, so that we don’t have the health disparities that we have in African American communities,” said Wade.
She also felt that “health is very important in the retention plan; because if you don’t have healthy students, then how can you retain them if they’re sick.”
Tiffany Braxton, a freshman mass communications major from Memphis, feels that holding such events on campus is very important, especially to out of state students who don’t have access to their family doctors.
“It is very important to be aware of your health status; it is always good to know if you have an STD,” said Braxton.
Braxton also said that as a college student, “this is a time in your life where you take on adult-like responsibilities, and part of that is making sure that your body is in a healthy state.” She added that, especially since we are college students and share a lot of utilities with others who may not be aware of their status, getting tested is important.
Langston Williams, a freshman architecture major from Baton Rouge, said, “It’s important because the greatest danger of having an STD or a problem with drugs is not knowing you have a problem; having the information would give them the opportunity to help themselves and help other students around them.”
Wade mentioned that the wellness fair was promoted in various ways including through a radio interview, flyers, the internet, student media and by word of mouth.
“We would like a good turnout,” said Wade. “If people are more aware of health, maybe it would be something that not only the health center would promote and be concerned about, but that maybe other organizations can partner with us to have it throughout the year.”
Wade also stated that she is anticipating that the spring Wellness Fair-which is being promoted at other universities in the Southern University System as well-will be an annual event.