by Danila Crespin
Daily Lobo
Freshman Nicole Freeman said she learned what binge drinking is on Thursday.
"I didn't know that four drinks in two hours is binge drinking," she said. "Every day we are dealing with these issues, and people ignore them, because we don't know where to go to find information on them."
The UNM Student Health Center held their third annual health fair on Thursday.
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Jo Antreasian, a nurse in the Women's Center who has been with the health center for 15 years, said the purpose of the fair was to educate students on healthy living and let them know about the center.
"It seems like it takes students two years to find us, and when they do, they don't want to leave us," Antreasian said.
Alcohol was just one topic discussed at the fair.
Booths were set up with information on other topics like men's health, plant and insect allergies and immunizations when traveling internationally.
Carol Fryer, a psychiatrist with Counseling and Therapy Services, was dressed in a black sleeping kimono to promote her booth on sleep hygiene. She said good sleep patterns are important to students' health.
"It's a big thing with them," Fryer said. "Everybody wants it, but nobody gets enough of it."
Casey Groten, a junior, said the booth where he got his blood pressure taken was his favorite.
"I found out my blood pressure and got a free granola bar," Groten said.
Student Carrie Quinn said the booth on women's health issues, such as gynecological exams and birth control, was helpful to students.
"I think people are scared sometimes to go to these places by themselves, and all of these places are out here so people can inform themselves," she said.
Posters of healthy food and papel picado - a colorful paper decoration popular in Mexico - adorned the Student Health Center to attract students to the event, she said.
Every department in the Student Health Center was represented.
Frontier Restaurant, Gyro's and Mountains and Rivers donated gift certificates for a student raffle. The Campus Office of Substance Abuse Prevention and the College Prep Program raffled off T-shirts and a masseuse gave free massages.
Antreasian said the health fair used to take place at the same time as Welcome Back Days.
"We found that we kind of got lost in all the commotion on Welcome Back Days," she said. "So, in the last few years we have had our own fair."
