Organizers of an Indiana University Haiti relief effort say the response from the IU and Bloomington communities already has been strong. As their monetary fundraising efforts continue -- just this week each member of the IU women's basketball team donated their pre-game meal money -- they have shifted the focus to a material aid drive, encouraging donors to help "Cram the Container!" a 1,280-cubic-foot container provided by the university.

Marieke Van Puymbroeck, assistant professor in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Studies in Indiana University's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, was honored by the American Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA) at its annual conference in Minneapolis. She received the organization's Scholarly Achievement Award for her contributions to the literature in therapeutic recreation.

Dozens of researchers from Indiana University are attending the American Public Health Association's annual meeting in Philadelphia, Nov. 7-11. This release discusses research involving education for people with intellectual disabilities, the reasons people use lubricants during sex, how support for smoking bans can encourage smokers to consider quitting, the use of stability balls for office chairs, a program that increases mammograms for African American women and a program that helps people become active.

The 9th Annual Cardboard Boat Regatta at Indiana University Bloomington will be held Friday (Sept. 25). It will feature the Dean's Challenge, where Stephen Watt, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, will defend his title against four sea hardy captains who will race across a 50-meter pool with nothing but a paddle and their cardboard ships.

Two longtime Indiana University faculty members and a former IU trustee are part of the charter class of the Indiana Conservation Hall of Fame, a group that also includes a U.S. president, a popular author and the father of the Indiana state park system. The Indiana Natural Resources Foundation announced the class this week.

This back-to-school issue of IU Health and Wellness includes articles about Influenza A (H1N1), important sexual health information for incoming college freshmen, nurturing kids' interest in technology, and an inside view of how a sorority polices members' "ladylike" behavior.

Indiana University has made the entire collection of 23 videos produced by the Recreation Therapy Video (RTV) Project available via streaming technology so they may be viewed by students on their home computers, in university classrooms and by recreation therapists in healthcare centers.

Key faculty in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation at Indiana University Bloomington will meet on Thursday (June 4) with representatives of the Batey Relief Alliance to discuss how they can work together to boost public health resources in communities in the Dominican Republic. Faculty and students can learn more about the project -- and how they might become involved -- at open sessions at 9 a.m. and 10 a.m.

Indiana University has been asked by the Chinese government to help it implement new national guidelines requiring the country's 1.6 million schools to provide students with daily physical activity. The move is an attempt to reverse a burgeoning obesity problem in China. Reporters and the public are invited to learn more about the plans on Friday during a presentation at IU Bloomington.

In response to long-standing public health needs in Indiana, Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie today announced a plan that calls for the formation of two schools of public health, one at IU Bloomington and the other at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Indiana University will conduct a Teach In on May 5 to share with the campus and Bloomington community the latest information about Human Influenza A (H1N1), also known as swine flu.

Senior Chinese and U.S. government health, education and physical activity authorities and Indiana University faculty are meeting in Bloomington next month to craft an ambitious and far-reaching plan -- a blueprint for implementing Sunny Sports China, a directive by Chinese President Hu Jintao to provide daily physical activity for China's 270 million school children.

In the March 2009, IU Health & Wellness, Indiana University researchers discuss studies involving yoga's influence on fear of falling in older adults and how condom use 'turn offs' reported by women are very similar to those reported by men. They also provide tips for parents to help their kids discontinue or avoid smokeless tobacco use.

Health and fitness experts at Indiana University Bloomington plan to raise awareness of the potential harm that can result from a negative body image by focusing on the positive during Celebrate Every-BODY Week Feb. 23-27.

Educator, scholar, and avid outdoorsman, Joel Meier, professor emeritus in Indiana University Bloomington's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, is this year's winner of the Paul K. Petzoldt award from the Wilderness Education Association (WEA).

Indiana University experts in recreation and mental health, sports medicine and psychology discuss in January's IU Health & Wellness the influence of physical activity on mood for people with serious mental illnesses, emotional stages of athletic injury recovery and prenatal exposure to nicotine and behavior problems.

Gary Robb, founding director of the National Center on Accessibility (NCA) at Indiana University and retired professor in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, has received the National Park Service (NPS) Accessibility Leadership Achievement Award.

The School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation at Indiana University Bloomington recently honored seven alumni with the school's W. W. Patty Distinguished Alumni Award, John R. Endwright Distinguished Alumni Service Award and Mobley International Distinguished Alumni Award.

In this holiday issue of IU Health & Wellness, Indiana University professors talk about the power of gratitude, revamping unhealthy eating traditions, active date gift ideas, holiday-related injuries and ways to manage consumerism and kids' gift expectations in tight economic times.

The American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration has selected Stephen A. Wolter, executive director of the Eppley Institute for Parks and Public Lands at Indiana University Bloomington's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, as a 2008 fellow.

New tourism development in Orange County, Ind., home of the nearly two-year-old French Lick Resort Casino and other attractions, has generated enthusiasm and support from local residents and businesses, say tourism experts from Indiana University. These experts have begun collecting data to see if the subsequent souring of support, common when tourism is seen as an economic development tool, also develops -- or can be prevented.

Bloomington will get a dose of traditional Chinese health culture this week as members of the Chinese Health Qigong Association conduct a workshop and demonstrations to raise awareness of the healthful benefits of this ancient Chinese exercise.

Sustainable tourism experts from Indiana University's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation are helping university faculty in Turkey create a department of recreation and develop management plans to fully use -- yet protect -- a national park near the touristy Mediterranean coast.

In the September issue of IU Health & Wellness, Indiana University experts in cognitive development, tennis and adolescent sexuality discuss new research into the cycle of violence, a fun way to improve in tennis and information parents need to play an effective role in their teens' sexuality education.

Sailing into the sunset? Hardly. Richard McKaig, dean of students and vice provost for student affairs at Indiana University Bloomington, will race across the IU Outdoor Pool -- in a cardboard boat -- on Friday (Sept. 26) with Robert M. Goodman, dean of the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. All in good fun -- and to raise money for student scholarships.