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/ GRADUATION GUIDE / THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2011 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
Wide range of options available for new graduates
BY CLAIRE MCINERNY
editor@kansan.com
As some seniors are preparing for jobs and planning their lives after school, some students are experiencing a different scenario the end of college panic
er. One opportunity that enables students to make that happen is through Teach for America. Teach For America is a program that allows recent college graduates to teach in public schools in low-income communities. The assignment lasts for two years.
a way to prolong having to find a job, but rather look at it as a way to find new opportunities and new ways for students to use their passions. She said a lot of politicians who now work in Congress were in the program and are now fighting for education rights.
Wiechman spent his two years in Saint Lucia doing community development. He helped a farmers' cooperative develop a grant proposal to get funding for a composting project from the United Nations and also taught reading and music at a school.
Four year degree later
The Peace Corps was an attract-
力 for Wiechman because
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2011
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
Will new cigarette warning labels work?
BY SHAUNA BLACKMON
sblackmon@kansan.com
"SMOKING IS BAD"
We hear it from friends and family. We are reminded in public service announcements that second-hand smoke is similar to child abuse and the coughing and shortness of breath after climbing a flight of stairs. Even cigarette packs discourage the use of the very product they con-
Now, the Food and Drug Administration is requiring all cigarette packaging and advertisements to contain graphic warnings against the dangers of tobacco products. Will grotesque images drive home the message that smoking is bad?
THE WARNINGS
The words and images make up the most significant change to cigarette labels in more than 25 years. These new warnings must cover 50 percent of a cigarette pack and 20 percent of advertisements, making it difficult if not impossible for companies to keep their original style or design.
Before September 2012, the food and Drug Administration will require every cigarette pack to feature grusome pictures, such as ones that depict a mouth ravaged by gum cancer or someone blowing smoke in an infant's face. The images, which are paired with health warnings and the 1-800-Quit-Now helpline, are required under the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said that while she hopes these images will affect all smokers, a major motivation is to prevent young people, especially those under 18, to ever start.
"With these warnings, every person who picks up a pack of cigarettes is going to know exactly what risk they're taking." Sebelius told reporters earlier this month, according to the White House website. "These labels are frank, honest and powerful depictions of the health risks of smoking and they will help encourage smokers to quit, and prevent children from smoking."
Thirty-nine other countries have already adopted a similar program, many with even more gruesome pictures than these proposed in the U.S.
IS THIS LEGAL?
Tobacco companies have to front the bill for the new product warnings. Philip Morris, the country's largest tobacco company, and R.J. Reynolds, maker of some of the country's best-selling brands such as Camel, Kool, Winston and Salem, have raised complaints against the new bill.
"Any government requirement that compels a private entity to carry a message not of its own choosing raises constitutional concerns." Phillip Morris representatives wrote in a federal court document.
The courts ruled in 1985 that not all speech is of equal First Amendment importance. Because certain types of speech, including commercial speech, have "less value" than others, they are not entitled to the full protection of the First Amendment.
Nonetheless, commercial speech has become more protected since the 1970s, said Mark Johnson, media lawyer and chair of the advisory board of The University Daily Kansan. Advertisements have to be for a legal product and have to be truthful, as long as companies uphold those two things, the government cannot ban it, only restrict it.
"Restrictions that work have to be very carefully focused on specific products," Johnson said. "Tobacco is the main target of advertising restrictions now."
EFFECTIVENESS
Last year, major tobacco companies sued and the U.S. District Court in Kentucky had a split-decision but sided with the FDA on keeping the warning labels and many other aspects of the proposal. Some of the FDA's proposed changes were struck down as unconstitutional, such as a ban on color advertising, most were upheld.
A Centers for Disease Control study found in 13 out of 14 countries which require similar warning labels on cigarette packs, 25 percent of smokers said they might consider quitting after they saw the graphics. In six of those countries, more than 50 percent said they were considering quitting be-
Some smokers say the new warning labels will not affect their behavior.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO ILLUSTRATION
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