Campus Health Fair set for Wed.

Ever since word spread that a tobacco-free policy will be instituted on all IU campuses at the beginning of next semester, students have been talking about this controversial issue. With fewer places to smoke, some smokers may question whether they want to continue this habit.\nInformation on this topic and others will be on display from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday during the 35th Annual Campus Health Fair, held in Alumni Hall of the Indiana Memorial Union. Open to the public, this free event will offer a variety of educational information to benefit people’s health and well-being. There will be more than 30 displays at the fair, including smoking cessation information.\n“The health fair is an amazing opportunity in the Bloomington community to find out what resources are available,” said Cathlene Hardy Hansen, health and wellness director at the IU Health Center. “It’s kind of like a one-stop shop.” \nThe fair offers information targeting both students and the general public, from sexual health education to guidance for end-of-life decisions.\n“Because we are a campus organization, we do cater to students,” Hardy Hansen said. “However, the needs of the community do parallel the needs of the students, so it would be beneficial to faculty and staff, as well as the Bloomington community.”\nThe fair will focus on smoking cessation, as the tobacco-free policy will be in effect as of January 2008. IU is encouraging and guiding people in the process of going smoke-free by offering smoking cessation classes at no cost through the IU Health Center.\nIn addition to smoking cessation information, exhibits offered at this year’s health fair will include flu shots, nutrition information, food samples, free massages and anonymous HIV testing, said health and wellness educator Kathryn Brown. She said one group that will be present is the Monroe County Health Department, which in the past has created an interactive game about sexually transmitted disease awareness.\n“What they’ve tried to do every year when they contact exhibitors is to really encourage the exhibitors to have something interactive – not just a table where you go pick up brochures,” she said.