By Chloe Matthews
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark — After Arkansas’ deadliest flu season in history, with 219 deaths reported by the Arkansas Health Department, a university outreach program is visiting schools to spread awareness about germs.
The Food Science department decided it was time to teach about germ safety by using a plastic based powder combined with a u-v light to allow viewers to directly see the spread of germs.
Rosa Buescher, the Student Relation Coordinator for the Department of Food Science knows it’s hard to create a presentation that sticks in the audiences’ minds.
“It’s kind of like learning chemistry, a lot of the time you can’t see and you don’t make the connection. But when you can see the germ it kind of freaks you out, and makes you think about in the back of your head; I want to spend extra time washing my hands,” Buescher said.
On college campuses where students are in close proximity and large amounts of germs are spread every day, the little things can be the difference between being healthy and sick.
“All of this can be prevented by proper handwashing, and hand washing is so important, people don’t do enough of it,” Buescher said.