Alumni return to speak about smoking
Alex Dalecki
Issue date: 9/17/09 Section: News
Homecoming isn't the only time alumni return to Truman.
Alumnae Brittany Camacho and Nancy Johnson recently returned to Kirksville on behalf of the Campus-Community Alliance for Smoke-free Environments (CASE) in an effort to educate the public and the campus about the dangers of secondhand smoke as part of their required work on a tobacco prevention grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health. Both Camacho and Johnson are Certified Health Education Specialists.
Strategies for educating the public primarily involve informative presentations for classes and groups, as well as continuation of the "Cold Turkey" tobacco cessation classes, originally started in the fall 2007 semester.
Camacho stresses that they are not for an all-encompassing smoking ban.
"We're not anti-smoking - we're pro-smoke free," said Camacho. "Smokers, if they want to smoke, can. If they're 18, it's a legal drug to use in America. It's just when it impedes on somebody's health that it's a fine line."
The impetus for the education is primarily to push new research from the Surgeon General describing the effects of secondhand smoke, Camacho said. The report, released in 2006, definitively found that secondhand smoke causes lung cancer, heart disease and acute respiratory effects, among other problems.
Carolyn Cox, Health and Exercise Science professor, has coordinated the efforts so far, including inviting Camacho and Johnson back to campus. Cox also is not pushing for a campus-wide ban.
"Our job is to educate, and the rest is up to your Student Senate," said Cox. "You're allowed to smoke, but if you want to quit, and most college students want to quit, we've got free classes."
CASE has successfully implemented the "Cold Turkey" program at a number of Missouri universities, including the University of Missouri-Columbia, St. Louis University, and Missouri State University. Some universities, such as A.T. Still, Washington University and Northwest Missouri State University, have instituted 100 percent smoke-free campus policies.
"Cold Turkey" classes are free and will be offered to Truman students, faculty and staff from 8 to 9 p.m. every Thursday night in the Pershing Building, room 301, from Oct. 22 to Dec. 3, except for Nov. 26. Classes are offered for any Kirksville community members from 7 to 8 p.m. every Tuesday night at Kirksville Church of Christ from Oct. 20 to Dec. 1.
Alumnae Brittany Camacho and Nancy Johnson recently returned to Kirksville on behalf of the Campus-Community Alliance for Smoke-free Environments (CASE) in an effort to educate the public and the campus about the dangers of secondhand smoke as part of their required work on a tobacco prevention grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health. Both Camacho and Johnson are Certified Health Education Specialists.
Strategies for educating the public primarily involve informative presentations for classes and groups, as well as continuation of the "Cold Turkey" tobacco cessation classes, originally started in the fall 2007 semester.
Camacho stresses that they are not for an all-encompassing smoking ban.
"We're not anti-smoking - we're pro-smoke free," said Camacho. "Smokers, if they want to smoke, can. If they're 18, it's a legal drug to use in America. It's just when it impedes on somebody's health that it's a fine line."
The impetus for the education is primarily to push new research from the Surgeon General describing the effects of secondhand smoke, Camacho said. The report, released in 2006, definitively found that secondhand smoke causes lung cancer, heart disease and acute respiratory effects, among other problems.
Carolyn Cox, Health and Exercise Science professor, has coordinated the efforts so far, including inviting Camacho and Johnson back to campus. Cox also is not pushing for a campus-wide ban.
"Our job is to educate, and the rest is up to your Student Senate," said Cox. "You're allowed to smoke, but if you want to quit, and most college students want to quit, we've got free classes."
CASE has successfully implemented the "Cold Turkey" program at a number of Missouri universities, including the University of Missouri-Columbia, St. Louis University, and Missouri State University. Some universities, such as A.T. Still, Washington University and Northwest Missouri State University, have instituted 100 percent smoke-free campus policies.
"Cold Turkey" classes are free and will be offered to Truman students, faculty and staff from 8 to 9 p.m. every Thursday night in the Pershing Building, room 301, from Oct. 22 to Dec. 3, except for Nov. 26. Classes are offered for any Kirksville community members from 7 to 8 p.m. every Tuesday night at Kirksville Church of Christ from Oct. 20 to Dec. 1.
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