October 22, 2003 — University of Utah students, faculty, staff and the greater community can learn more about health and wellness during the U’s Wellness Week, Oct. 28 through 31. The 13th Annual Wellness Fair, traditionally a highlight of the week because of the giveaways and free health information, will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 29th, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., in the U’s Olpin Union Ballroom. Last year more than 2,000 people attended the mid-week event.

The Wellness Fair includes more than 80 participating groups, entities as diverse as American Red Cross, Utah Poison Control, Planned Parenthood, the Utah Diabetes Association, several religious groups and Sedona, an organization that specializes in stress management reduction through meditation and kinesiology. Sedona will give stress tests and lead workshops on meditation and relaxation. Several religious groups will be included as well. Among others, campus participants include the U’s Army ROTC, Campus Recreation, Career Services, Office of Orientation, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Resource Center and the Bennion Center.

The Moran Eye Center will be providing free eye screenings and Meadow Gold will provide free bone density testing. The Center for Change will offer free screenings for eating disorders and the U’s Counseling Center will offer free screenings for depression. During the fair, ARUP Blood Services will conduct a blood drive in the Union East Ballroom, adjacent to the fair. Weather permitting, a free climbing wall will be available for fair goers and will be located on the southwest corner of the Olpin Union Plaza. Attendees can enjoy Hungarian music and enter drawings to win prizes from The King’s English Bookstore, The Pie Pizzeria, Chartwell’s, the U’s Field House, Off Broadway Theatre and the Utah Jazz.

The Wellness Fair is sponsored by the Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC), the Office of Health Promotion and the Student Health Service, which offers an on-campus medical and wellness clinic designed specifically for students and their dependent family members.

“We urge the University and greater community to attend Wellness Week activities to learn more about health and wellness-and to participate in the Union Building’s biggest event of the year,” notes Jason Gillman, health educator in the Office of Health Promotion at Student Health Service. “The health fair focuses on the holistic model of health and wellness, which encompasses and balances physical, emotional, intellectual, social and spiritual health.”

Wellness Week is sponsored by the University’s Wellness Network, a collaboration of the U’s Student Health Service (SHS), the Alcohol and Drug Education Center (ADEC), the Counseling Center, Athletics, Disability Services, the Olpin Union, the Office of Residential Living (ORL) and the College of Health.

The schedule of Wellness Week events is as follows:

On Tuesday, Oct. 28th, a Gold Medal Mile Walk through lower campus will begin at noon. Participants will meet on the west side of the Union Building, outside the Bennion Center. The event is sponsored by the ADEC, the Office of Health Promotion (OHP) and the student group Speak Out.

The largest event of the week, the Wellness Fair, will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 29th, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., in the East Ballroom of the U’s Olpin Union Building.

On Thursday, Oct. 30th, three campus organizations will host open houses. From 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., Student Health Service will hold an open house in its offices, located on level one of the Madsen Health Center, 555 Foothill Drive. Tours of the facility and refreshments will be offered. ADEC’s open house will be held from noon until 2 p.m., in room 328 on the third level of the Student Services Building. The Women’s Resource Center, located in room 293 of the Olpin Union Building, will host an open house from noon until 2 p.m.

On Oct. 30th, the U’s Bennion Community Service Center will sponsor “Service Trick or Can,” an activity that will take participants trick-or-treating in nearby neighborhoods to collect cans of food, rather than sweets. All donations will benefit the Utah Food Bank. Interested individuals should come costumed and meet at 6 p.m. in the west parking lot of Rice-Eccles Stadium. For more information on the event, call 801-581-4811.

Throughout Fall Semester, the U’s Chapter of the Golden Key International Honor Society has sponsored “Soap ‘n’ Bubbles,” a service drive that collects hygiene products for the homeless. Perfume, deodorant, shaving cream, cotton balls, soap, shampoo and conditioner, combs, hairspray, floss, toothpaste, toothbrushes and bandages are greatly needed. Collection boxes are located in the Heritage Center, the Olpin Union Building, the Bennion Center, Student Health Service and the main office of the Student Apartments. Golden Key will also collect donations at the Wellness Fair. The new, packaged items will be donated to emergency shelters in the Salt Lake Valley.

On Halloween night the U’s Office of Residential Living (ORL) will host an alcohol-free Halloween party, beginning at 9 p.m., at the Chase M. Petersen Heritage Center. The event, sponsored by OHP and ADC, is free to students and their dependents.

For more information on Wellness Week or the Wellness Fair, call 585-1274.