Wellness Fair offers education mixed with fun

There aren’t many places where flu shots are offered with free professional massages.

The… There aren’t many places where flu shots are offered with free professional massages.

The William Pitt Union is one of them.

These services were offered as a part of Panther Wellness Days 2006, an annual campus health fair held yesterday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the William Pitt Union Assembly Room. The fair, sponsored by Student Health, was the first of two occurring this semester.

Throughout the event, students could receive $20 flu shots and afterward pamper themselves with massages, learn deep-breathing techniques to alleviate stress, and take advantage of gifts and healthy snacks offered by various organizations.

Over 20 different exhibitors representing various departments of Student Health and community and University organizations set up tables with literature and demonstrations for students.

Groups offered services such as blood pressure and migraine screenings, body mass index measurements, and alcohol and tobacco awareness information, among other items.

Jamie Moder of Tobacco Free Allegheny attracted groups of students to her table with an age-progression program that demonstrated the effects of smoking on the body. Moder took pictures of people’s faces, which she ran through software, aging the face as it does when exposed to tobacco.

“Smoking isn’t just about your lungs,” Moder said, who added that many students were surprised by the computer simulation.

For Meg Mayer-Costa, a dietician with Student Health, the fair was an opportunity for her to reach out to students who normally wouldn’t seek her services.

“People don’t realize that you don’t have to have problems to stop by,” she said. “This is a nice way for us to market our services.”

Students who missed yesterday’s fair can catch the next one, occurring Nov. 7 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the WPU Assembly Room.