NewsBytes
Junly 19, 2004
Spring 2004 Volume 20

Travel Center Open for Summer Trip Planning

The Experience Travel! Center, located in the Student Union, is open all summer for SSU faculty and staff to book tropical vacation getaways, rail passes including schedule planning, great airfares for business or leisure travel, cruises and special interest tours.  Call Laurie at 4-3400 or 792-0961 to discuss plans or to set an appointment to meet. She is available daily.

Funds Soon Available for Staff Development

Why it Pays to Exercise - RSI Relief

Several SSU staffers attended a recent Monday evening's meeting of the Repetitive Strain Injury Self-Help group that meets in Cotati.  The speaker was Margo Louwerse from Redwood Hand Therapy in Santa Rosa.  Although she is primarily a hand therapist, much of Louwerse's talk also applied to people with other types of repetitive strain injuries.

There is a major connection between cardio-vascular fitness and musculoskeletal health, she said, and then passed on some important reasons for including it in excercise programs for RSI issues.
 
"We need to do aerobic exercise for our hearts, weight, etc., but I had never before realized that aerobic exercise would help the spasms in my neck and shoulder, says Tandy Whitaker, Financial Services, who attends the meetings.
 
Whitaker shared some of the reasons Louwerse says aerobic exercise helps prevent and/or heal RSIs:
 1.    Increases blood supply (capillaries) to the muscles;
2.    Increases capacity for aerobic metabolism, resulting in less lactic acid;
3.    Increases lymphatic flow (drainage of waste products from the tissues);
4.    Improves motor-neuron function;
5.    Impacts the central nervous system by enhancing the release and uptake of endorphins and serotonin - both of which help in curbing pain;
6.    Helps one reach a state of relaxation, which decreases muscle tension and improves sleep - and sleep is critical for healing.
 
The RSI Self-Help Group meets the second Monday night of each month, at 7 p.m., at the Redwood Health Library in Petaluma. The next meeting is Aug. 9. To carpool, contact Tandy Whitaker, Financial Services, 4-2916.