A curious student stops by the School of Public Health's table in the University Center as 23-year-old graduate student Sammie Bownes has her take a disposable straw, flatten it and bend it at a 90-degree angle.
"Now you're going to do 20 jumping jacks, and then, without taking a breath, hold your nose and try to breathe through the straw," Bownes said. "This is supposed to demonstrate what a child with asthma or emphysema feels like when they enter a non-smoking restaurant or a house where there are smokers."
Bownes was one of several graduate Students from the University of Memphis' School of Public Health that kicked off National Public Health Week on Monday by encouraging students to quit smoking.
"We are trying to advocate for public health around campus because a lot of people don't really know the difference between health and public health," Bownes said. "However, one of the main linking sources is tobacco, so we figured we would start off the week with tobacco secession."
In addition to encouraging tobacco secession, Bownes and the others were educating students about the differences between public health and individual healthcare.
"A lot of people basically interpret health as reactive, meaning that you're sick so you go seek help," Nikko Carlson, 23, said. "While public health takes more proactive and preventative routes."
Some of the other events the SPH has planned for the week include its award luncheon that will be held Wednesday from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in room 300 of the UC, and a panel that will discuss the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the lobby of the UC.
At the luncheon, the SPH will honor four people for the Public Health Champion Award. This year's honorees are William Tuttle, vice president of Planning Memphis Metro Market for Baptist Memorial Health Care; Doug McGowen, director of the Memphis Innovation Delivery Team; Ed Rafalski, senior vice president of Strategic Planning and Marketing for Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare; and Memphis Mayor A C Wharton.
Friday's discussion panel will be headlined by Dr. Paige Powell, as well as representatives from Christ Community Health Services, and will inform students on what to do if they missed the marketplace's March 31 enrollment deadline, in addition to other aspects of the PPACA.
"People are going to start panicking after the deadline passes so we just want to make sure that people are informed on what to do now," Bownes said. "We want people to know that they have options, and that just because they missed the deadline doesn't mean that they will be out for a while."
While the market will not open up again until November, and the currently uninsured will most likely face a fine, Bownes urges the uninsured to have a plan in place for next time the marketplace opens up.
