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reprint or license thisHEALTHY CAROLINA PLAN
USC campus goes on a health kick
Students, faculty, workers find restrictions on smoking, changes in menus, other initiatives
By JAMES T. HAMMOND
jhammond@thestate.com
The Patio cafe in the basement of USC’s Patterson Hall will be a draw for all-you-can-eat fans no more.
This semester, it will adopt a more healthful menu, with defined portions.
Students can expect to find more turkey burgers and lettuce wraps and fewer french fries. Also on campus, there will be fewer places to smoke and more places to exercise.
Such are the mandates of Healthy Carolina, a plan to make University of South Carolina students and faculty members healthier.
Few aspects of campus life will be untouched by Healthy Carolina, said Gene Luna, associate vice president for student affairs.
He said the Healthy Carolina focus on better health and its outreach to students and members of the university faculty and staff will serve as a vast laboratory for USC public health researchers to develop initiatives that might apply beyond campus.
“If we can make it work on this campus, it should be exportable to South Carolina,” Luna said.
Healthy Carolina isn’t just about food and exercise. The program is aimed at helping students and faculty members on issues as diverse as academic stress, sexual health, tobacco and alcohol use, and anger management.
But food service, given the rise in obesity and obesity-related health problems among young people, will be a primary target. The trick for USC is to provide better nutrition while keeping menus in campus dining halls attractive to students.
At times, the Healthy Carolina goals might clash with student demands for traditional favorites such as soft drinks. The university recently entered into a contract with Coca-Cola that will produce $412,000 annually for the university in exchange for Coke’s ability to sell its products on campus.
Trustee Michael Mungo initially questioned whether the deal conflicted with the university’s healthful living goals.
But USC spokesman Russ McKinney said the university must balance its food and drink offerings with student expectations.
“Clearly, there is a demand for soft drinks on campus,” McKinney said. “We advocate that students take a balanced approach as well.”
That balance must include exercise, and the most visible commitment by USC to student health is the 192,000-square-foot, $49.2 million Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center at Blossom and Assembly streets.
Rebecca Zorch, a 25-year-old graduate student from Pittsburgh, teaches aerobics at USC. She said she believes there is a demand for greater emphasis on healthful lifestyles, but many students don’t know what is available to them.
“It will be great to put it all together,” she said.
“There’s always a rush (to sign up for exercise classes) after the New Year holiday; then participation falls off. We need to find ways to keep them committed,” Zorch said. “Reaching out to students who are not self-motivated will get more people involved.”
The other high-profile initiative already pushed to the forefront by Healthy Carolina is a widening of the smoking restrictions on campus, banning the practice outside all buildings and 25 feet away from structures.
A student survey showed 70 percent of smokers want to quit, said Michelle Burcin, director of Healthy Carolina.
“People’s behavior doesn’t change just because they know what they are supposed to do,” she said. “But there is clear research that if you establish policies to discourage tobacco use, fewer people will choose to smoke, and more people will quit.”
Zorch said the university’s tobacco ban will be difficult to enforce, but she said student peer pressure will be critical to success.
SETTING THE GOALS
To determine the goals of Healthy Carolina, USC researchers last spring asked students about their physical and mental well-being.
Hopelessness is not an emotion usually associated with young adults in college, but that was exactly what half the 1,258 people surveyed said they had experienced in the past year.
Healthy Carolina’s outreach efforts will have a mental health component to help them.
USC also will attempt to help meet students’ spiritual needs while avoiding advocating a particular religion or spiritual path.
“We have an advisory council of chaplains,” Luna said. “If a student is in crisis, we’ll ask if we can provide spiritual help. We don’t prescribe faith. We just encourage them to consider their spiritual needs.
“We’ll be respectful of all faiths, but we’re not reluctant to have those conversations.”
Religion is not the only sensitive topic Healthy Carolina is prepared to deal with. In the survey, 25 percent said they were sexually abstinent. Those who are sexually active, Luna said, should know how to protect their health.
Many of the programs and resources of Healthy Carolina have existed for years.
The Healthy Carolina Web site —www.sc.edu/healthycarolina/ — shows programs as diverse as:
• Couples/relational counseling
• De-Stress for Success
• Substance Use and You
• Alcohol-free Gamecock tailgate parties
• Safe Spring Break Week
• Allergy clinic
• Registering dietitian appointments
• Eye care clinics
• Intramural sports
• Insurance office
Luna said there has not been a comprehensive approach to educating students and delivering those services.
More new facilities might be necessary to meet all the university community’s spiritual, emotional, physical and social needs.
“We expect one initiative to come out of Healthy Carolina to be a new health center, with a more comprehensive approach to health,” Luna said.
Reach Hammond at (803) 771-8474.
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