National Eating Disorders Awareness Week and Student Counseling Services

National Eating Disorders Awareness week recently concluded at college campuses throughout the country. Yesterday, counselors from Hofstra’s Student Counseling Services were involved in this important effort providing free and confidential screenings in the Student Center. Students were provided with feedback about healthy eating, eating disorders and body image concerns. 

 

We appreciated meeting the students who stopped by our table, asked questions and offered some inspiring stories of recovery. Many also demonstrated their Hofstra pride by expressing concern for friends and loved ones and asking important questions about how to encourage others to seek help.

Wheel of RESPECT - PRIDE Week

The Multicultural and International Students Programs Office hosted an event at the atrium tables from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Student Center titled Wheel of RESPECT. On Tuesday February 25 the letter of the day was R representing Respect for Self and Others in the Division of Student Affairs P.R.I.D.E. Week celebration.

The Wheel of RESPECT tested student's knowledge about the practices in other cultures. Students choose a question at random and answered it by using the information that they knew about their own culture. If they got the question correct they would then spin the wheel and win a prize depending on what letter of the word RESPECT the wheel landed on. Some lucky students were able to win:
R – Respect USB bracelet
E – Eat (Lackmann meal pass)
S – Special prize (book store gift card)
P – Pen & Pencil
E – Eraser
C – Candy & Chocolate
T – T-shirts
These questions helped students become more aware of different things in other cultures.

Even the students, who didn't receive a prize, won some new cultural knowledge. 

As you probably already assumed the students who won the $9.00 Lackmann meal passes, T-shirt with the P.R.I.D.E principles on the back and $10.00 gift cards to the book store were overcome with joy when they answered their question correctly.

One student came back to the table several times because she enjoyed answering the multiple questions.

"I feel like I am in another country already," she said.

Another student came back to the table for a second time and said "I don't even want to spin the wheel and win a prize. I just enjoy answering the questions."

Stay tuned for all the other P.R.I.D.E events happening later this week.

 

Guest Blogger:
Ariana Queenan
Sophomore, Broadcast Journalism major

Take a pledge: Don't text and drive

During Hofstra’s annual P.R.I.D.E. week program, the Office of Off-Campus Living & Commuting student services asked the student body to make a pledge to not text and drive. Over 100 students took the pledge not to text and drive. 

   

The No Phone Zone Pledge reads as follows:

-       I will not text while I am driving

-       I will promise to use hands-free calling if I need to speak on the phone while I am driving.

-       I will pull over to the side of the road if I need to text.

-       I pledge to make a difference. 

Every student that took the pledge received a Hofstra No Texting thumb band to act as a reminder not to text while operating a motor vehicle.

“Stay alive, don’t text and drive” was the slogan used to peak student’s interest in stopping at the table set up in the Atrium in the Mack Student center for an hour and a half. Students were engaged once they found out more about the risks of texting while driving.

With the longest eyes-off-the-road time of all distracted driving activities, text messaging makes a car crash up to 23 times more likely than any other activity.

77% of young adults are very or somewhat confident that they can safety text while driving. 55% of young adult drivers claim it’s easy to text while they drive.

These facts and more were a somber reminder for students to take the “No Texting While Driving” pledge.

Many students were eager to sign up, expressing how deplorable they think texting and driving is, while others were more hesitant, embarrassed to admit how frequently they text and drive.

The Hofstra No Texting thumb band will remind students of the pledge they took during this P.R.I.D.E. week, and hopefully encourage them to put the phone down while they are driving. 

It’s not too late to take the pledge or get a ring – just stop by the Office of Off-Campus Living and Commuting Student Services to fill out your pledge card!

Written by: Cristina Pappadake-Gomez

Graduate Assistant

Office of Off-Campus Living & Commuting Student Services