Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness

Stop by the USU Health and Wellness Center to gain awareness about prescription drug abuse! This information is helpful for all students! Also, remember to dispose of your prescription drugs properly in the foyer of the Health and Wellness Center!

Walk A Mile In Her Shoes

SAAVI will hold it's ninth-annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event at USU Friday, April 12, 2013. Males are encouraged to get involved, and experience what it’s like to Walk A Mile In Her Shoes. This one-mile walk provides a way to discuss gender and sexual violence. Many perceive rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence as women’s issues. However, research indicates educational efforts aimed at men are powerful tools in violence prevention. Most men are non-violent, so when they take a public stance against violence they are making a difference in their peer community. Walk-a-Mile raises money for the USU SAAVI Office to support their violence prevention and education efforts on campus. There will be two walks on April 12th starting in the USU Taggart Student Center Bookstore hallway and ending at the USU Bookstore entrance. The first walk will start at 11:45 a.m. and the second one at 12:45 p.m. If you are planning on walking in this event please show up 30 minutes before the walk time to register. Each participant will receive a free t-shirt and a pair of high-heel shoes to walk in. By participating in this event you are showing you are doing your part to end rape. Let's send the message that sexual abuse is unacceptable at USU! Women are invited to walk along side male participants to show support. Come to the event to gain awareness of this issue, laugh at men trying to walk in high-heels, get free pictures in a photo booth, enjoy live music, or purchase a t-shirt for $1. See ya there Aggies!

National Alcohol Screening Day

Utah State University is participating in National Alcohol Screening Day. USU Student Health Services is encouraging students to discover their own personal drinking levels.

This event will be held Thursday, April 4 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. in the TSC Ballroom. The USU Health and Wellness Center, and Reach Peers will provide resources for students to gain awareness of their personal behaviors, and the risks that might follow from their actions. The information will cover topics about college drinking, binge drinking, and proper guidelines of alcohol use. Students who attend this event will be able to fill out surveys about their alcohol use. Then they can meet with counselors in order to determine whether they are a high or low risk drinker. All of the meetings and questionnaires will be private and kept confidential. Attendees can also watch the movie Treasures Lost: Making the Risks Real. Additional resources will be available at booths provided by the USU Health and Wellness Center, and Counseling Center.

Whether you drink or not, this is a beneficial event for all who attend! If you abstain from alcohol consumption, this is a great opportunity to use the information for friends or family who participate in risky drinking behaviors. The process to encourage responsible drinking behaviors includes education, enforcement, and policy development. Individually, these three aspects cannot accomplish the goal alone, but together they make for proper alcohol use. This event is open to students, faculty, and the community! Be sure to participate in a screening, discover personal drinking levels, and learn the risks of drinking behaviors.

See you there Aggies!

Kick Butts!

Utah State University Student Health Services invites you to Kick Butt! March 20th is National Kick Butts Day, and USU Student Health Services and the Bear River Health Department are teaming up to encourage USU Students to quit smoking. An event will be held for National Kick Butts Day Thursday March 21, 2013 in the Merrill-Cazier Library from 10 a.m.-2p.m. The booth will be located in the library entryway so students can gain awareness about the dangers of smoking. Students can also pick up informational pamphlets, quit kits, and have their questions answered by an expert.

National Kick Butts Day is a day of activism that empowers youth to stand out, speak up and seize control against Big Tobacco at more than 1,000 events across the United States and around the world. Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. 1 in 5 Americans use tobacco, killing more than 400,000 people annually. Tobacco kills more people than AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders and suicides combined. Tobacco also costs the U.S. more than $96 billion in health care expenditures and $97 billion in lost productivity each year. Is smoking really worth the risk?

11.8% of adults in Utah are regular tobacco users, and 1,100 Utah adults die each year from tobacco. Annual health care costs in Utah directly caused by smoking is $345 million. Smoking also causes $294 million of productivity losses in Utah. The tobacco industry spends $8.5 billion on their marketing expenditures each year. They spend $34 million of that budget for marketing just within Utah. Studies show kids are twice as sensitive to tobacco advertising than adults. Therefore, kids are more likely to be influenced to smoke by cigarette marketing than by peer pressure. One-third of underage experimentation with smoking is attributable to tobacco company advertising.

USU Students Kick Butts!

Spring Break Safety

It's finally here! The week we've been waiting for all year, SPRING BREAK! It's time for a much needed week long break from the stresses of school, and if you are lucky, catch some sun!

Whether you are staying on campus, working, visiting family and friends, or traveling the world it's important to be safe. Spring break is a time to let loose, but we encourage you to do so responsibly. Do not drive long distances if you are sleep deprived, or distracted. This could lead to a potential accident since your brain is probably more focused on the fun times ahead. Remember not to speed while driving to avoid tickets. Police officers know when spring break is, and they are looking for college kids speeding off to their vacation spot. If you are going to a warm, sunny destination pack plenty of sunscreen. It is important to protect your skin from the harmful UV rays of the sun, especially since we are not used to exposing skin during the long Logan winter months. It is easy to forget, but drink plenty of water during the day to avoid dehydration. If you consume alcohol do so responsibly, and only if your 21 or over. Underage drinkers risk harmful consequences to their health, and getting in trouble with the law. It is important to always be fully aware of your surroundings, especially if you are traveling to a location you are unfamiliar with. Use the buddy system when exploring. Do not let anyone in your group leave with a stranger, or be pressured into uncomfortable situations. Also, bring plenty of protection if you are planning on being sexually active during break.

These simple safety tips will ensure you have a fun, and stress free break! See ya after spring break Aggies!

Be Kind to Yourself

The Sororities at Utah State University; Alpha Chi Omega, Kappa Delta, and Theta Nu Xi are promoting having a positive body image on campus this week. Today's media gives women a false perception about what beautiful is, or looks like. Women find themselves under a great deal of pressure to look like models or actresses, or else they believe they are not beautiful. The sororities are promoting positive image with a week of events themed "Be Kind to Yourself." The goal is to make the women on our campus aware of their natural beauty, and be proud of who they are.

Does this look beautiful to you?

The sorority women are promoting awareness about the subject by passing out purple bows in the TSC for women to wear. By wearing a purple bow in your hair everyday this week you are showing support for the subject, and showing you love yourself. Stop by the TSC and grab your purple bow today!

Today there is a display in the TSC International Lounge promoting positive body image. You can learn more about the facts, and perceptions people have about body image. You can also take a pledge to end fat talk. Wednesday, March 6, 2013 there will be a body image panel for students to ask questions relating to the subject to a panel of experts. The panel will be held in the TSC Auditorium at 11:45 a.m.

Aggie ladies can also stop by the Kappa Delta or Alpha Chi Omega sorority house anytime to take an empowering photo with a sign explaining who they really are.

Remember, the women who are confident in themselves are the most beautiful! Love your body, it's the only one you'll ever have!

Spring Cleaning

The sun is shinning, and spring is around the corner. Spring means warmer weather, blossoming flowers, and spring cleaning. It is always a good idea to clean up your room, car, backpack, and also your medicine cabinet. Unused Prescription Drugs pose a serious problem for misuse, and need to be disposed of properly. The Bear River Health Department has useful tips and information for spring cleaning your medicine cabinet.

To dispose of your old prescription drugs follow these steps:

1. Rip off labels from the bottles that have any personal identification information.

2. Crush up the pills.

3. Place crushed pills in an undesirable substance such as kitty litter, or diapers.

4. Seal in a plastic bag and take out to the trash on the day it is collected.

5. DO NOT flush medications unless otherwise directed. This may pollute the water supply.

Remember to NEVER share your prescription drugs. It is unsafe and illegal. Properly disposing of unused prescription drugs can help prevent the growing problem of prescription drug abuse and misuse. You can also discard of old Prescription drugs at prescription drop-off boxes in your area.

Prescription Drop-off Boxes in Cache Valley

USU Police Department

850 E 1250 N, Logan

Open 24 Hours

Can Dispose of used syringes

Most Convenient location for USU students. Read this article about USU's first prescription drop box.

Logan City Police Department

62 W 300 N, Hyrum

Monday-Friday 8am-5pm

North Logan City Office

2076 N 1200 E, North Logan

Monday-Friday 8am-5pm

Can dispose of used syringes

Hyde Park City Office

113 E Center, Hyde Park

Monday-Friday 8am-4:30pm

Can dispose of used syringes

Cache County Sheriff's Office

1225 West Valley View, Logan

Monday-Friday 8am-5pm

Hyrum City Office

83 West Main, Hyrum

Monday-Friday 8am-5pm

For more information please call (435) 792-6510 or visit www.brhd.org

Also visit the Utah Government site for more resources and information about prescription drugs.

L is for the way you Look at me

The power outage didn't stop us! We still had a great Healthy Relationships Week, with the True Aggie Dating Game, a Healthy Relationships Panel, Speed Dating, prizes, and heart shaped cookies! And yes, the power did come back on half way through the event!

Health Fair Recap

This video was made by USU Students Tylar Glenn, and Lauren Gould.

Also, watch Prevention Specialist, Ryan Barfuss, in an interview with ATV News about drinking on campus!

In Remembrance of Alan Hashimoto

Alan Hashimoto, an associate professor of graphic design at Utah State University, was found dead in his Art Department office Monday morning, as a result of a heart attack. Hashimoto has been a professor at USU for the past 25 years. He taught courses such as typography, interactive media, and film. He was a creative, innovative, artistic, and accomplished professor. Over Hashimoto's lifetime he built up an impressive resume, and had a large impact on society. He expanded traditional graphic designs into digital media, video, and web applications. He Designed video games and simulations, and authored a 397-page book, Fundamentals of Design: A Digital Approach. He was an art director and consultant in digital applications, apart of a research group that created a variety of online interactive games, director and video/animations designer of the USU production of Macbeth in 2006, and helped create a digital design department and degree at the University of Utah. His hard work, and achievements will not be forgotten.

A Facebook page has been created as a place for Hashimoto’s friends and students to “meet” and exchange thoughts on his career and impact.

Read more about Alan Hashimoto in the Hard News Cafe

View artwork created by Alan Hashimoto

Getting the Word Out

Have you read this great articles in the Herald Journal about USU Student Health 101 yet?

Or, what about this article in The Utah Statesman about alcohol?

If you are a college student struggling with ADHD, this article is very insightful!

USU Student Health Services wants to see you at our next big event! Healthy Relationships and Sexual Responsibility Week! We will be holding The True Aggie Dating Game. This event will set up USU students on a date, and you get to watch it all happen!

USU Health Fair

Want to succeed in keeping all your healthy New Year's resolutions this year? We want to help! USU Student Health Services, and The Employee Wellness Program, presents the USU Health Fair. The Health Fair will be held this Thursday, Jan. 31, in the Taggart Student Center (TSC) International Lounge. Stop by anytime between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. The Health Fair is open to USU students, USU employees, and the community! The Health Fair brings awareness to the community about all the various resources available in Cache Valley for maintaining your health goals. There will be interactive booths, displays, and health screenings.

See ya there Aggies!

#1 for Worst Air Quality

According to the federal government air quality website; Logan, Utah is the number one city in the nation for the worst air quality. The air quality is not only a problem in Logan but in many areas of Utah, especially during these harsh winter months. The top 5 worst cities in America for air quality include 4 Utah cities; Logan, Provo, Salt Lake City, and Ogden. It is typical in Logan to have air quality indexed at over 100, which is rated as unhealthy, air is considered deteriorating when the index is over 35. Today the air in Logan is rated unhealthy, with an air quality index of 160. If you have lung disease, heart disease, or asthma you should avoid spending time outside during unhealthy air index days. Children and elderly people should also stay indoors during unhealthy air days. Inversion occurs naturally in Cache Valley and is not unhealthy. It is the pollutants that are released into the air that cause damaging effects during these winter months. Pollutants that are released into the air during inversion become trapped in the clouds that hang low over the city. About 50% of bad air particles that are being trapped in the air are caused from vehicles. To reduce the air quality index in Logan, we encourage you to check your vehicle emissions, and cut back on driving during inversion and unhealthy air quality days. Logan City, The Bear River Health Department, and Utah State University have all taken proactive measures over the past few years to reduce pollution in Cache Valley. We challenge Cache Valley citizens to take a proactive stance for better air quality as well. Educate yourselves about the dangers of living in unhealthy air quality conditions, and make a conscious effort to reduce the amount of pollutants you emit into the air.

Click Here to view the federal government air quality forecast.

Click Here to view Cache County's air quality forecast.

To find out more about how air quality affects your health read the Air Quality Index Guide

Here's a few ways to help reduce the amount of pollutants we send into the air.

National Stalking Awareness Month

Stalking is a serious crime in our country, and affects 6.6 million adults every year. This January, we are raising awareness about stalking at Utah State University. Stalking is a series of actions that puts a person in fear for their safety, or any unwanted contact that communicates a threat. Stalkers may use a lot of different methods of stalking such as; following you, harassing you, calling you, watching your house, sending you inappropriate or unwanted messages, or acting in any manner that you find scary. Stalkers can be inventive, persistent, and obsessive, which can make them very dangerous. Every state has some form of law against stalking because it is a serious crime that can effect the lives of the people who fall victim to stalking. If you have questions or want to seek counseling about being stalked call the USU SAAVI Office at (435) 797-1510 or the CAPSA Hotline at (435) 797-RAPE (7273). SAAVI can also be reached via E-mail at saaviinfo@aggiemail.usu.edu Don't wait, till it's too late.

• 1 in 6 women and 1 in 19 men have been stalked
• 2/3 of stalkers stalk their victims once a week
• Almost 1/3 of stalkers have previously stalked
• 11% of stalker victims have been stalked for 5 or more years
• The majority of stalker victims are being stalked by someone they know
• 66% of females and 41% of males victim are stalked by a current or former intimate partner
• 46% of stalking victims fear not knowing what will happen next

Take this quiz to see how much you really know about stalking.

If you have any further questions about stalking or Utah's laws against stalking visit The National Stalking Awareness or,  The Victims of Crime website.

Where did the break go?

Does it seem as if Fall semester just ended? Spring semester came too fast? Here are some helpful tips on how to get back into the swing of things for a new semester.

1. Time Management : create a way to manage your time, use either a planner, calendar, or smartphone app. Write down class times, work schedule, and homework schedule daily so you can keep your tasks in order. Keeping a schedule will help you reduce the amount of times you forget about an assignment, or important meeting.

2. Take a reasonable amount of credit hours : only take as many credits as you can handle, everyone is different with how many credit hours they can realistically manage. Look back on past semesters too find a good gauge on the proper amount of credit hours for you. Take into account work schedule, homework amount for each class, and having enough social downtime as well.

3. Have all materials ready : use the first week of the semester to get all the supplies you'll need for the semester such as text books, highlighters, notecards, pens and pencils, notebooks, calculator, and printer paper.

4. Get involved : use this semester to get involved in an on-campus group, or club. Being involved in your community brings opportunities to make new friends, as well as build confidence, and relieve stress.

5. Budget : create a budget to live by for this semester. Estimate about how much money you have to spend on groceries, gas, bills, savings, and shopping and/or fun money. After a couple weeks of sticking to your budget make any necessary modifications.

This semester we challenge you to try something new, get involved, and use campus resources available to all USU students! Welcome back to school Aggies!