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.