The new UOSA Health Advocacy branch is an innovative addition to our school government.

As its founder Niekia Franklin informed us, students already pay more than $50 each semester for health services on campus. With UOSAHA, students may get more bang for their buck.

UOSAHA has a few plans that have the potential to positively impact all students. To help us trim our bulging waistlines UOSAHA plans to bring students healthier fast food options.

Knowing how busy we are, it’s too easy to grab a giant, greasy slice of pizza from Sbarro’s before we speed off to our next class. If we had more options than wraps at the Laughing Tomato, it would be easier to save ourselves a few calories.

UOSAHA also plans to improve the sexual health of our ever-libidinous student population. In sexual health resources, OU comes in 81st out of 141 colleges and universities, according to Trojan’s 2009 Sexual Health Report Card. Students are going to have sex, so let’s make sure they stay healthy while doing it.

We know OU has programs for students to help with issues of depression, obesity, and other eating disorders, but many students don’t know how to access these services. Bringing these initiatives out in the open and engaging students, rather than hoping students will come to these services could boost our sagging health rankings.

We urge caution in UOSAHA’s plans to implement a smoking ban on campus. Most of us are familiar with the adverse health effects of smoking. But UOSAHA should realize smoking cigarettes is kind of like sex — students are going to do it anyway.

We don’t want to marginalize a significant number of students on campus who smoke, and we don’t want to force them to make trips off campus just so they can smoke a cigarette. At the same time, we do want these students to realize the enormous benefits to their health that quitting smoking entails.

Rather than push for an all-out smoking ban, we recommend taking a softer approach. This could entail promotion of services and programs to help students quit. Right now, OU is severely lacking in the promotion of these programs.

At this university, we hold great pride in our academics, sports and campus life. Let’s add health to this list.