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FEATURES
Puff Puff
IN 1997, STUDENTS
SMOKED
A PACK. OF
" 20 OR MORE
10 TO 19
HOW MANY?
The percentage of
STUDENTS WHO SMOKED
CIGARETTES IN THE PAST
30 DAYS HAS RISEN
DRAMATACIALLY SINCE
1993.*
... . ;. : v .
1993 1997 PERCENT
INCREASE
freshemen:
24.3% 31.2% 28.4%
SOPHOMORES
24.2% 29.2% 20.7%
JUNIORS
22.2%
29.4% 32.4%
SENIORS
20.8%
25.3% 28.4%
Going up in smoke | More college
i
utside, on the
benches facing
the cafeteria,
Anthony
Clinkscales
i reaches into his brown leather
S jacket and retrieves another
| cigarette from a pack of
| Newports. He touches the
| lighter's flame to the cigarette's
| edge and inhales, causing it to
| glow orange-red.
This burning is duplicated
* Based on survey of 15.103 randomly
SELECTED STUDENTS IN 1993 AND 14,251
RANDOMLY SELECTED STUDENTS IN 1997.
Source: iournal of the American
MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
details the increase of cigarette
smoking in the Black
community. The report, titled
"Tobacco Use Among U.S.
Racial/Ethnic Minority
Groups" was released earlier
this year.
The new report cites several
sources. Among them are new
studies from the Centers for
in his lungs, and his eyes glare
? from the sensation. Anthony
* opens his mouth to let the white
1 clouds containing his tension
i escape, and watches as they dis-
i solve into the gray sky.
| "I feel more relaxed,"
| Clinkscales, a senior psychol-
| ogy and Spanish major, says
| between drags. He is not
ashamed to smoke
and he doesn't care
him. While the students across
from him eating in Chivers
cafeteria may not realize that
their current activity isn't much
healthier, Clinkscales claims to
be aware of the dangers
associated with his mode of
stress-relief. "It takes years to
die from cancer," he says.
It is not at all rare to see
students on Morehouse's
campus smoking cigarettes.
Morehouse students are
proving that smoking "isn't just
for white kids anymore."
The increasing number of
students at Morehouse College
who smoke seems to reflect a
trend that is effecting the
African-American community
as a whole.
In his first report since
being appointed Surgeon
General, Dr. David Satcher, '63,
> students are
lighting up
By Lee Bowman
Scripps Howard News Service
Cigarette smoking among
college students of all
backgrounds has increased by
5 percent in the past four years,
i according to a survey recently
I released by The Journal of the
1 American Medical
| Association.
The study, conducted at
| 116 four-year colleges by the
| Harvard School of Public
| Health, found that 28 percent
I of college students smoke
1 compared to 23 percent in
1994.
"We found a dramatic rise
I in smoking among all college
I students, at all types of
1 colleges," said Henry
other national publications. | Wechsler, lead author of the
And, by public support and | report.
sponsorship of major events in g According to Dr. Nancy
the Black community, the | Rigotti, director of tobacco
tobacco industry attempts to j research and treatment at
maintain a positive image. jjj Massachusetts General
The Surgeon General's * Hospital and a co-author of the
estimates that 45,000 African- j report, "College students and
Americans die each year from a I people with college educations
smoking-related disease that § have traditionally smoked at
could have been prevented. | lower levels than people not
How many millions of dollars | attending college."
is that worth? | The new data suggest that
John Robinson, a freshman | college students are more
biology major, has been g likely to smoke than American
smoking for the past three years, g adults in general and are
Robinson, who says he picked . slightly more likely to smoke
up the habit from his family, is | than 18 to 24-year-olds in
aware of the health risks but
doesn't appear to be concerned, j The researchers noted that
"I say ... you gotta die I "the increase in smoking first
sometime." 1 seen in middle school and high
In the Surgeon General's | school students noted in the
report, Dr. Satcher writes, "If f 1990s has reached the college
tobacco use continues to g population. These students
increase among minority | could contribute to much
adolescents, we can expect g higher adult smoking rates in
severe health consequences to g the future, with severe
begin to be felt in the early part . consequences in terms of
of the next century." With the ! disease."
minority population projected ’ The researchers found that
to become the majority halfway ■ smoking prevalence was
through the next century, Dr. * higher in whites than blacks or
Satcher and the CDC have S Asians and higher in
made it clear how drastically | freshmen, sophomores and
important it is that this | juniors than among seniors
disturbing new trend be | and fifth-year students,
reversed. g Smoking was less
Given the current trend, the g common at private than public
outlook is as gloomy as the g schools, at commuter schools
general.
Disease Control and Prevention
and the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, as
well as letters and press releases
from various other authors.
According to the report,
smoking amongst African-
American students increased by
80% from 1991 to 1997. Equally
alarming is the finding that
cigarette smoking has doubled
amongst African-American
male students.
The report lists a few
possible factors that may have
contributed to the increase. For
example, studies have shown
that cigarette advertisements
are more prevalent in major
Black publications compared to
November sky. It's enough to
stress anyone out. Seemingly
unconcerned by all of this,
Anthony Clinkscales crushes
his glowing bud on the
sidewalk, then reaches into his
pocket and lights another
cigarette.
than at residential schools.
Wechsler and Rigotti
suggested that in addition to
college health officials
stepping up "quit smoking"
programs, universities should
also expand smoke-free areas
i to protect non-smokers and
| encourage those who are
| smoking to smoke less or quit.