On Monday, 225 headstones appeared on the lawn in front of the Knight Library. And in spite of the appearance of caskets last spring in the same area, Stephanie Young-Petersen, coordinator of Lane County Public Health’s tobacco prevention program, maintained that there was still no one buried there.
The headstones were part of an exhibit to promote tobacco awareness, each representing one of the 225 people who died of tobacco-related illnesses every 30 minutes. Last spring, 105 coffins were placed on the lawn as a part of the Viewing Project, an exhibit meant to raise awareness on the Iraq War’s human toll.
The headstones also featured the vignettes and ages of actual people, listed under fake names, who died of tobacco-related illnesses, some of them as young as nine.
The Campus Advisory Board and the Campus Health Action on Tobacco Study organized the exhibit to promote the tobacco cessation programs they offer. Student smokers who want to kick the habit can pick up nicotine replacement products for free from the University Health Center, according to Campus Advisory Board Director Paula Staight.
Junior Jacqueline Fitzgerald, a self-described social smoker, said the exhibit had an impact on her.
“It definitely makes me think twice about lighting up a cigarette,” she said.
But some students, such as senior Edwin Soenarya, pictured above, appeared unfazed by the exhibit, casually strolling between the headstones while smoking.