Students fill up the Breezeway, trying to get through the crowd quick enough to get pizza or a sandwich before their favorite lunch meat or topping runs out. But there’s a catch.
Despite being free, students can’t simply just pick up a sandwich and leave. They need to stop by one of the many booths in the Breezeway to learn about applying sunscreen, using a condom and taking self defense classes. After listening and learning about staying protected, students get a stamp from the booths they’ve visited. A total of eight stamps means a free t-shirt and lunch.
On Thursday, Sept. 12, FAU’s annual Safety Fair took place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Different groups and organizations set up booths with pamphlets, flyers, presentation boards and goodies, like free pens, buttons and condoms.
Booths operated by departments as varied as the fire department and Student Health Services lined the Breezeway, showing students how to live more safely.
“[Students] don’t realize the resources that are available for them, and a lot of them are free,” Jamala Patterson, health promotion community service director of the Student Health Advisory Council, said. “I just learned a lot about how I need to wear sunscreen more often. ‘Cause I don’t wear sunscreen. I don’t wear sunglasses very much either, so. That’s bad.”
One of the booths featured information about sun safety, giving tips on how to lower the risk of getting skin cancer. It covered the importance of wearing sunglasses and hats to avoid too much contact with the sun. The type of sunscreen someone chooses is also very important. Info at the booth recommended looking out for sunscreen with UVA/UVB protection, an SPF of 30 or higher and water resistance.
The police department handed out cards with information on what numbers to contact in case of an emergency, along with the website of where to go if students are interested in taking a weekly self defense class – www.fau.edu/police.
“It’s important to know fire rescue’s on hand at any time, the police department’s on hand at any time, as well as health resources are available to you at any point in time,” Patterson said.
“I think most of [the booths are] definitely applicable,” David Durham, a freshman chemistry major, said. “Some of it isn’t pertainable to everybody. I’m not going to go to the Rape Clinic, but yeah [the sun safety] one was helpful to me. Some of the stuff’s kind of interesting.”
