Peer health educators want to let people in on a little secret: 62.6 percent of University students have never smoked cigarettes, but they think that only 8.8 percent of their peers have never tried them, according to the 2007 National College Health Assessment Survey distributed to University students last spring.
Students, faculty and staff are invited to participate in a cigarette butt pick-up in preparation for “Kick Butts,” a week-long event that coincides with The American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout, a national event created to help smokers kick their habit. The University Health Center will provide gloves and trash bags to volunteers who will collect discarded cigarette butts today at 1 p.m., in front of the Knight Library.
The University spends between $8,000 and $10,000 each year to clean up cigarette litter, said Paula Staight, director of health promotion.
The butt litter will be on display next week and students can take a guess at how many butts were collected in a half hour. The student who makes the closest guess will win a $30 gift certificate to The Duck Store.
The event is an opportunity for smokers to get support in their effort to quit, Staight said. “Smoking is a leading cause of preventable death.” Cigarettes also induce asthma attacks and allergy responses, she said.
The week-long Kick Butts event will have information tables throughout the week with displays that inform students of tobacco’s impact on heath and the environment, the dangers of second-hand smoke and resources to help smokers quit.
It’s a health issue and an environmental issue, said Juliet Charron, a student leader in the peer health educator program and member of the Clean Air Project.
“We’re not trying to put smokers in a corner,” she said.
Charron, a junior public planning and policy major with a focus on health policy, supports a smoke-free initiative on campus.
“OHSU is smoke free,” Charron said.
According to the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, there are 99 college campuses that are entirely smoke free in the United States, including five in Oregon.
Charron has spoken with ASUO President Emily McLain about the possibility of the University becoming a smoke-free campus. In an e-mail, McLain said she would consider discussing the creation of a committee with Provost Linda Brady.
The student government at Oregon State University is also considering a smoking ban and has a student group dedicated to the cause called the Fresh Air Initiative.
“We’re hoping to have a Civil War smokeout to see who goes smoke-free first,” Charron said.
A Facebook group in support of a campus-wide smoking ban had almost 500 members as of Thursday afternoon.