Tulsa World: OSU hosts tobacco-related illness awareness event

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OSU hosts tobacco-related illness awareness event

Oklahoma State University Tobacco Health Educator, Yvon Fils-Aime, talks to a passerby about the health risks involved with smoking on Thursday at the OSU campus. ZACH GRAY/For the Tulsa World

By AMANDA O'TOOLE World Correspondent
Published: 11/19/2009 2:31 PM
Last Modified: 11/19/2009 5:28 PM

STILLWATER — Sixteen mannequins dotted the lawn near Oklahoma State University’s student union, representing the number of people in the state who die each day from tobacco-related illnesses, according to the University Health Services.

Student volunteers and staff from the University Health Services and the Department of Psychology passed out information about quitting smoking as people passed the demonstration, which was a part of Tobacco Free Oklahoma Week and the Great American Smokeout.

The smokeout is a nationwide campaign by the American Cancer Society to raise awareness about smoking and the illnesses it can cause. Smokers are encouraged to refrain from smoking for a day as part of the event.

“Most of the time students think 'I’m young. I won’t be affected,’” said Yvon Fils-Aime, the tobacco health educator for the University Health services. He explained that names on the mannequins were fictional, but their diseases — emphysema and various forms of cancer — were very real.

“This is what creates awareness,” he said.

Fils-Aime runs the OSU Tobacco Use Prevention Program, which began in 2006. That year, a study showed about 33 percent of the student population smoked or used other tobacco products. A similar study in 2008 showed the percentage dropped to about 23 percent.

The program, funded by the Tobacco Settlement Trust, helps identify tobacco users on campus and provides them with opportunities to seek help to quit. Uninsured students are eligible for free cessation medication, for example and Fils-Aime checks in with the students to check on their progress.

One of the program’s goals is to prevent freshman from starting smoking.

Madison McCauley, a sophomore from Comanche who works at the University Health Services, secured a banner on the lawn Thursday as she talked about growing up in the country where most people chewed tobacco.

She said the demonstration is helpful because people can easily get facts about tobacco and how to quit without friends or family members telling them about it.

“Some people won’t accept the facts until they see it on a sheet of paper in front of them,” she said.

By AMANDA O'TOOLE World Correspondent

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Reader comments for this story have been moved to the most updated version of the story, now under the headline "OSU students urged to kick the habit," which was published on 11/20/2009. So far, 14 comments have been made.