THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8.2005
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 5A
rers for controlention
Targeted CONTINUED FROM PAGE AA
them hand out samples. Smoking is also a goal of the companies' marketing techniques, Choi said. Handing out free smokes and merchandise can result in the increased consumption of cigarettes. Also, cigarette companies offer incentives for more packs of cigarettes consumed, giving them points that can be redeemed for merchandise.
"It really hinders the success of those trying to quit," he said.
Megan Wesley, Hutchinson senior, has been smoking since she was 15. The weekly coupons she gets from Camel cigarettes help her cut the costs because she spends about $20 a week on cigarettes, she said. She started receiving the coupons after exchanging her driver's license information for free cigarettes in the Granada.
Representatives who hand out the freebies and collect direct marketing information in Lawrence bars appear to be college-aged, but declined to give their names. They also declined to comment on the details or the ethics of their marketing techniques. The young man at the Granada said his contract prohibited him from speaking to the press. Both Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds declined to respond to questions from the University Daily Kansan, pointing out that the settlement agreement prevented them from talking to publications that cater to customers under 21 years of age.
One part of the settlement agreement forced tobacco companies to spend a certain amount on anti-tobacco advertising. Those
ads, including the truth.com ads, are broadcast on both the radio and television.
But Linda Keller, director of the American Lung Association's Kansas chapter, said those ads were ineffective and merely a façade for a company that is really seeking to get younger smokers hooked for life.
She said all credible authorities "agree that tobacco companies have lied to the American public."
KU students hooked on tobacco can get information on the negative effects of tobacco from Melissa Smith, manager of the KU Wellness Resource Center in Watkins Memorial Health Center. She said once students become addicted to smoking, their health begins to deteriorate. It starts with shortness of breath, bad breath and yellow teeth. It's followed by the weakening of the immune system, an increased chance of impotency in men and problems with ovulation in women. And those are just the short-term problems. Heart disease, emphysema, and lung cancer are among the long-term effects.
Unhealthy habit
Health problems are usually a college student's first clue that smoking is not all that it's cracked up to be, Smith said. But by then, quitting isn't always the easiest thing to do.
That's when Student Health Services steps in. During every appointment at Watkins, Smith said, the doctor asks the patient if he or she is a smoker. If the answer is yes, then the doctor hands
over a pamphlet on the free smoking cessation clinics that Watkins offers.
"It is the single most important thing you can do for your health," Smith said about quitting.
Social smoking, skepticism
Students often think they can avoid long-term health effects if they only smoke cigarettes occasionally in social situations, such as at bars.
That's the attitude that makes them even more susceptible to becoming addicted, said James Grobe, assistant professor of psychology, who worked on the KU study with Choi. Grobe himself started smoking socially in college, never thinking he would get addicted. But over time, his "sometimes" habit developed into a morning, afternoon and evening necessity. Grobe quit smoking when he left college.
Tobacco advertisements purposefully relate tobacco use and drinking to imply that a person needs both to have a good time, Choi said. This makes students think they will not get addicted and that social smoking is harmless.
College students who smoke once or twice a month, or only when they drink, usually don't identify themselves as smokers, Grobe said. But the odds of relapse, or wanting another cigarette, increases greatly with each smoke.
After one cigarette, a person is 70 percent more likely to smoke another. The second one is 90 percent more likely to lead to a third, Grobe said.
Won Choi agreed that no one is safe smoking a few cigarettes.
"Once they realize the harmful effects, they are already addicted," he said. "There is no one way to get hooked."
Joel Kelly said he started smoking to alleviate stress. But he also likes the way cigarettes go with alcohol. He said smoking a Camel cigarette with a drink enhances his pleasure.
He estimates that he spends $30 a month on cigarettes, which is more than a pack a week. And even though Kelly's family and friends worry about him smoking, Kelly said he was in no way a real smoker.
"I could quit any time," he said.
Gaby Souza/KANSAN
- Edited by Nate Karlin
Ken Stoner, director of Student Housing, said housing staff evacuate students quickly even when it's cold. He said the goal is to get everyone out in a couple of minutes.
People use space heaters and light fireplaces, Stoner said, and this could lead to real fires. So even though it may be snowing, getting out is top priority.
Cold
"They may be a little bit more disgruntled in the cold." Stoner said, "but they still get out quickly."
Stoner said K.K. Ammi is 50 feet away and that students wait there instead of standing in the cold. He said it is important to respond to fire alarms even when weather is bad, because fires often occur in cold weather.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
The director of Margaret Amini reminded residents of this while they waited for their hall to clear out. She stressed that even though the hall had been having false alarms, being in the cold is much better than being in a fire.
Even if, like Evans, a person is wearing flip-flops and it's snowing.
Edited by Erin Wisdom
Mirecki
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
State Sen. Karin Brownlee (R-Olathe), who met with Chancellor Robert Hemenway in Topeka about Mirecki's class before it was canceled, said, "My goal was not to see him resign or anything like that. My goal was to assure that, should the course be taught, it be taught will all perspectives fairly represented in the classroom."
Brownlee added, "The issue became quite a firestorm."
Mirecki declined to comment.
Mirecki hasn't been around the office much, but this hasn't stopped reporters from roaming Smith Hall searching for him
"I'm not talking to any media anymore," he said. "They call every 15 minutes."
On Monday, Mirecki called the controversy an "unwelcome hurricane," citing the more than 2,000 e-mails he received in the last couple of weeks. He said the "vast majority" of the messages were supportive. Mirecki's voice mail in his Smith Hall office has been full for days.
and anyone else willing to talk, said Margaret Rausch, assistant professor of religious studies, whose office sits directly below Mirecki's.
Dennis Dailey, professor emeritus of the School of Social Welfare, said it's not easy being in the middle of a public controversy. Dailey speaks from experience.
In 2003, State Sen. Susan Wagle (R-Wichita), accused Dailey on the Senate floor of promoting pedophilia and showing pornographic videotapes in class, among other things, in his human sexuality class. The University of Kansas investigated the class found her accusations to be unfounded.
Dailey said he was frightened for his family when he received eight to 10 anonymous death threats during his ordeal.
"I wasn't scared by the person who made all the fuss in the Legislature," he said. "I was scared of wackos who might strike out against me. I'm just thankful nothing happened."
He said he was alarmed by Mirecki's alleged beating.
"It's just a very frightening
business that people would turn to violence in this situation," he said.
Rausch said she last saw Mirecki at the religious studies department's monthly faculty meeting on Monday and noticed "big swollen spots" on his face.
"It transformed his face," she said.
Jesse Plous, New York senior,
and Tiffany Jeffers, Shawnee
senior, are enrolled in Mirecki's
Dead Sea Scrolls class. They
said they didn't notice bruises
or scratches when they met for
class at 12:30 p.m. Monday.
Lindsay Mayer, Holbrook, Ariz., junior, another student in the class, said she might have seen a small bruise on the side of his face, but said injuries weren't extremely noticeable.
Mirecki didn't show up for class on Wednesday. The students said Mirecki had never mentioned the controversy in class.
it's a good class, it really is," said Plous. "It's too bad he's been steeped in controversy. I hope it pans out for the guy."
- Edited by Katie Lohrenz
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