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April 24, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Marti Hobbes, mhobbes@smith.edu
Health Educators Promote
Bike Safety at the Five Colleges
NORTHAMPTON, Mass.-Health educators
at the Five Colleges and Valley Bicycles of Amherst and Hadley
are joining forces to promote the use of bike helmets during
their "Bike Smart" campaign through May 3.
According to Smith's health education coordinator, Connie Peterson,
"Most head injuries resulting from biking accidents could
be prevented with the use of a helmet. But," she continues,
"a recent survey by the Consumer Product Safety Commission
indicates that fewer than half of bicycle riders wear helmets,
and teens almost never do."
To raise awareness of the importance of wearing a helmet, the
health education departments at the colleges will be distributing
literature about the benefits of helmets and how to properly
fit and wear them. In addition, Five College students can participate
in two separate contests, for which Valley Bicycles of Amherst
and Hadley has donated the prizes-bike helmets and a Cypress
hybrid bicycle manufactured by Giant Bicycles.
Each school is sponsoring a "Be a Helmet Head" contest
to encourage students to wear helmets when biking. The contest
will also help promote a Web page, Chilipeppers, that features
fun, local Five-College events that are alcohol free. The grand
finale will be the contest for a Cypress bike made by Giant Bicycles
(and, of course, a helmet!). The bike winner will be announced
on May 5th.
To enter the "Helmet Head" contest, students enter
a drawing at the individual schools. To enter the bike contest,
students click on the Chilipeppers Web page (www.chilipeppers-live.org)
and follow the easy instructions. Anyone can click on the Web
page to find out about local events at the colleges and in the
Valley (including bike paths, movies, cross country ski centers
and even the local bus schedule), but only Five College students
can enter the contests.
For more information about the contest, call Connie Peterson
at Wellsprings (413) 585-2824, or visit one of the Valley Bicycle
stores at 319 Main Street, Amherst, (413) 256-0880 or "trailside"
at 8 Railroad St, Hadley, (413) 584-4466.
Jeff Landers of Appilistic Webworks donates his time as Web designer
of Chilipeppers, and the Web page is coordinated through Connie
Peterson at Wellsprings Health Education Center, Smith College.
Wellsprings' Health Education Center is a division of Smith College
Health Services whose goal is to encourage and help students
work toward their optimal health and well-being. Wellsprings'
offers a wide variety of health-related workshops, sponsors monthly
health promotion themes and special health events on campus,
coordinate and train the peer health educators and provide self-help
information and resource lists for the campus.
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