Jake Beers photo Jessica Brodie (left) and Kyla Cullain attack Jennifer Purkiss, dressed as a giant cigarette during the third annual Health Expo at Algonquin's residence.

A human-sized cigarette and a cancerous pig lung were recruited to get the message out at Algonquin’s residence held its third annual health expo last week.

The expo, run by Student Services, is meant to help students see what services are offered at the college and around the community.

Amelia Zaglul, expo coordinator, said the expo began because most resident students are from out of town and need help and extra care.

Among the kiosks at the expo were dental care tips, a dietician displaying the amount of sugar in beverages, mental illness, the Center for Students with Disabilities and many more.

One of the booths was for Leave the Pack Behind, a program created to promote awareness of the effects of smoking for not only smokers, but non-smokers as well.

“It’s directed towards college age students,” said Jessica Brodie, a nursing student who was helping at the kiosk.

Many of the tables were there to promote awareness of physical health related issues but some, like the sexual assault table, were aimed at the psychological health of students.

“It’s scary and hard to deal with sometimes. It’s a taboo topic as well,” said Jessica Carfagnini, public education coordinator, of why the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Ottawa has a table at the health expo.

A kiosk that was aimed at the physical health of students was talking about the flu virus and how to prevent it.

“We show how much you cough,” said Renata Wisniewska of a picture displayed at her table. She wanted to give students more information on the flu and the shot that is given to prevent it.

Another table was the Safety and Security Services table, which was set up to show students where they are and what they do.

Amongst of their services is the walk safe program. This allows students to call and have a student volunteer walk with them across campus.

They also wanted to promote awareness of keeping safe on campus and using the emergency phones located on walk ways and in halls of the school that dial straight to their extension.

All the kiosks at the expo were informational and focused on helping students take care of themselves.