Online health magazine has low student following

Staff Writer

Only seven percent of student body actually accesses Student Health 101, an online publication that the college spends $2,500 a year on its 10-month subscription.

“I think if they had a printed copy, that would make it easier to read. Usually if I see it on the email, I think it’s junk mail, and I end up deleting it,” said Toni Lopresti, criminal justice student.for students.

Out of about 12,000 students who received the magazine in their college-issued email accounts in September, only 810 took the time to visit the magazine’s website.

“It’s important to me that if I’m sending this out, that students get something out of it,” said Wellness Center Director Claudine Potvin-Giordano. The current issue of Student Health 101 features articles on a wide variety of topics including how to deal with stress, what to do if your male friend is sexually assaulted, and how to avoid the flu.

“I think it has the potential to be a good tool for students if people used it more,” said Caragh Lenox, individual studies student.

The online magazine also conducts one miniature survey a week regarding questions such as “What would you pay $100 to never do again?” and “Would you rather have wings instead of arms or jetpacks instead of legs?”

“I like it because it talks about physical health, it talks about mental health, and it talks about relationships. It encompasses the student as a whole person,” said Potvin-Giordano.

One of the biggest draws for students is the $1,000 drawing students are offered after they fill out a questionnaire evaluating the monthly issue. The anonymous feedback is then sent to Hudson Valley administration such as Potvin-Giordano and Student Health personnel for evaluation.

Potvin-Giordano understands that different people have different opinions on health and nutrition. “For some people, nutrition is absolutely important; they want to ensure that they are eating properly. Some people don’t care. So I can’t say to everybody ‘This is really important.’ If it’s important to them, they will take away something from it,” she said.

Students have been receiving Student Health 101 for about ten years according to the best guess Potvin-Giordano could make. The magazine was already in place when she began her job in 2011.