THE OREGON HUMANITIES CENTER PRESENTS
ENGAGING AFRICA
A Symposium Exploring the^| Future of African Studies
j
MARCH 1-2,2001
Gerlinger Alumni Lounge
j KEYNOTE ADDRESS
| Thursday, March 1,4:00 p.m.
! PANEL PRESENTATIONS AND
j DISCUSSION
Friday, March 2,9:30 a.m.-noon
l
j A LECTURE BY CAMEROONIAN
NOVELIST MONGO BETI
Friday, March 2,7:30 p.m.
; Beti's talk is in French with
projected English translation
i
I All events are free
f and open to the public.
For information
or disability
accommodations,
please call
(541)346-3934.
UNIVERSITY 0/OREGON
Peers teach health
in peerless fashion
■The 11-year-old peer health
education program offers
students compelling events
By Beata Mostafavi
Oregon Daily Emerald
Students have probably heard the
words “sex” and “drugs” in dozens
of health classes since middle
school, and after repeatedly hearing
about topics such as sexually trans
mitted diseases, harmful drug ad
dictions and unhealthy diet habits
from teachers, some college students
just may have stopped listening.
But one group on campus has tried
using a different approach to draw peo
ple’s attention back to those themes.
Peer health educators, a group of
students enrolled in a health educa
tion class, present health issues in
creative ways that aim to educate oth
er students without drawing yawns.
From evaluating individual stu
dents’ diets through nutrition com
puter programs and performing
skits that portray serious issues
such as bulimia and anorexia, to
writing online articles on topics
such as cheese, the group hopes to
keep health issues alive while earn
ing upper-division credit.
The group’s next event, “Spring
Thing,” will include a variety of
events to make students more aware
of issues such as sunburn, sex, alco
hol and exercise, with the purpose of
encouraging students to make healthy
choices during spring break. The
event will be held today from 3-5 p.m.
in the Recreation Center’s lobby area.
Peer health education coordinator
Annie Dochnahl said that one of the
most unique aspects of the program’s
events is that information is present
ed in innovative ways by peers as op
posed to “dry” speech formats health
experts and teachers sometimes use.
“Even though people may have
heard about these issues since mid
dle school, it doesn’t mean they
have gone away,” she said. “The
great thing about this program is that
students are the ones influencing
their peers through creative ways.”
The class started about 11 years
ago, when the University offered a
separate health major. But even after
the health program was cut, the
peer-ed class remained intact, with
about 15 students enrolled each
term. The group hosts interactive
presentations and events mainly at
the request of other on-campus
groups such as Greek Life and resi
dence halls.
Individual students in the class spe
cialize in different subjects that range
from sex to drugs and alcohol to nutri
tion habits and body image. Dochnahl
said the class is especially popular
among students studying biology or
exercise and movement science.
But even students who don’t plan
to pursue any kind of career involving
science can be peer educators. Nora
Aaron, a junior art major currently tak
ing the class, said she’s involved in the
program partly because of her person
al interest in body image issues.
“These issues are sometimes
overlooked as some of the problems
many people suffer from,” she said.
Another peer educator, Jessica
Geller, a sophomore international
studies major, said she’s in peer-ed
because of her interest in eating dis
orders and nutrition. She said that
through her projects, she’s noticed
that many people are genuinely in
terested in the issues but don’t al
ways take the initiative to learn
about them on their own.
“People have a lot of questions
but are sometimes too shy to ask
them,” she said. “It helps when we
put the issues out in front of them.”
Geller added that one of the most
rewarding parts of being a peer edu
cator is receiving positive feedback
from students who leave events
more aware of the issues.
“Because we’re peers, students
are more apt to listen to us and take
our advice,” she said. “I felt like I ac
tually made a difference with them.”
For more information on the peer
education program, contact Annie
Dochnahl at 346-2843.
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Primaries 2/26 - 3/1
Vote by http://duckweb.uoregon.edu
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