The Rec Center claims to be the social hub of the university and is using that power to spread awareness about impactful concerns across campus.

Every other Thursday, the Rec Center poses a single question for Ashland University’s students, faculty and staff to answer. The brainchild behind the questioning is Mary Robinson, the current fitness and wellness intern at the rec.

Each question goes along with current events at or around AU and is coordinated with Peers Promoting Organized Wellness (PPOW). Every month, PPOW’s goal is to increase awareness about a certain event so the Rec Center question will follow that theme.

The goal of the questions, according to Director of Rec Services Janel Molnar, is to increase awareness on wellness.

“We’re doing different things here with wellness in terms of PPOW giving educational information,” Molnar said. “Obviously we’re a rec center so we have all different kinds of wellness opportunities going on but we wanted to make sure that we’re providing education.”

The first question, posed last Thursday, was concerning alcohol consumption. It specifically looked at the amount of alcohol that is considered appropriate for male and female students to consume. Students, faculty and staff were encouraged to look up the answer and reply to the email sent by [email protected] in a timely fashion.

“We’re just trying to put out information and have people look up the answer so they can become more educated,” Molnar said.

The correct answers are then put together and the winner is drawn at random. The winner is then awarded a prize from the Rec Center. Prizes range from free movie rentals to t-shirts.

If there are any questions that the student body feels are important or want to know the answers to, they shouldn’t wait for the next question, but send in their ideas for potential topics instead.

Even though the winner is given a prize, the questions primarily serve to increase awareness and education.

The goal is for students to be asked an important question and prompt them to take the initiative in order to find the answer, thus educating themselves.

Whether you are in it for the free rec gear or to become more educated on current concerns, look for the next rec question every other Thursday.