Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Student Health Web Site Unveiled

Courtesy be.georgetown.edu Be.georgetown.edu was launched yesterday as a joint effort by the FRIENDS Initiative and the Student Health Center designed to make health care more accessible to students.

The FRIENDS Initiative and the Student Health Center launched a student health Web site, be.georgetown.edu, yesterday. The Web site aims to facilitate student access to information regarding mental and physical well-being.

The Web site’s contents are divided into five sections: body, mind, soul, practicalities and emergency. The mind, body and soul sections will focus on mental, physical and spiritual health, while the practicalities section will offer students everyday living advice. Together, these five sections provide students with an array of information on topics ranging from depression to body art and tattoos.

An emergency link provides students with a phone directory of both on and off campus resources needed in the case of any emergency.

“What’s nice about the Web site is that it really responds to students in that they can access the information anytime,” Kate Hard (COL ’04), a member of the FRIENDS Initiative Harm Reduction Committee, said. “It’s not nine to five. If students need answers at 2 a.m., then they can find it at 2 a.m.”

Hard said the site also offers more privacy than visits to the Student Health Center. “A lot of times, it’s hard to ask personal questions to someone you don’t know sitting behind a desk,” Hard said.

The site is modeled after the my.georgetown.edu site and will serve as its complement. “We’re just hoping that students will click – go on, look around, explore. If not now, then we want them to know that the resources are there in case they need it sometime in their careers” Hard said.

The site also aims to debunk health myths and facilitate student conversation and activities in daily life.

“There are other parts of the Web site that are not as clinical,” Victoria Otarola (NHS ’05), a member of the Harm Reduction Committee, said. Student `tidbits’ decorate the site along with polls and photo banners of current Georgetown students that were taken by University Information Services.

Although the site has already been launched, it will be constantly improved upon and updated.

Be.georgeotwn.edu began as the brainchild of Dr. Daniel Porterfield, vice president for public affairs and strategic development, who was inspired to pursue the project by a conference he attended 15 months ago. Within the last year, students and various departments joined together to coordinate a site that would offer all services in a comprehensive place for students and faculty to access. The Office of Student Affairs, Health Education Services, the FRIENDS Initiative, the Department of Public Safety, University Information Services, the Coordinator for the LGBTQ Community Resources, Counseling and Psychiatric Services, the Students Health Center and the Office of Public Affairs have worked to combine information from their various sites to form be.georgetown.edu.

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