The Brown & White

Students tried to spread awareness about the dangers of nicotine and hosted an outlet for others to share stories on smoking-related diseases Wednesday at the Great American Smokeout.

Members of Colleges Against Cancer posted pamphlets in Lehigh's dining halls, stating the ingredients used in cigarettes. The ingredients were presented in a menu style made to stay consistent with the theme in dining halls, said Paige Malinowski, '09, CAC education chair.

Flyers were also hung in the dining halls that detailed the relationship between smoking and lung cancer and listed the effects both have on a user's body.

Members of CAC also drew outlines of bodies on Memorial Walkway to remind students the number of deaths smoking causes each year, Malinowski said.

In a joint effort with the health center, CAC handed out cold turkey sandwiches to anyone who made a pledge not to smoke for an entire day or to help a friend not smoke for the entire day. This was meant to symbolize the best way to stop smoking, quitting 'cold turkey,' said Sam Goldstein, '11, who is the CAC advocacy chair.

"There are a lot of ways people can help you," Goldstein said. "We're trying to promote why. You affect everyone you're around by smoking. That was the point we were trying to get across today."

Goldstein said she was affected by cancer in her senior year of high school, when her grandfather passed away from six different forms of the ailment.

"He was an inspiration to me in every way," she said. "When I heard about CAC, I realized cancer affected me and my family so much. I joined the club and became a big part of it."

Colleges Against Cancer tries to attack the addiction before any long term disease can be developed, Malinowski said.

"The earlier someone decides to quit smoking, the better the chance that he or she will not develop lung cancer," Malinowski said. "It is imperative to reach out to a young college community like Lehigh in order to truly make a difference."

Goldstein said some of her own friends are addicted to smoking and are not even aware of it.

"By promoting anti-smoking, I'm hoping to get across to students that we're educated people who don't smoke because we know what it does to you," Goldstein said.

All proceeds from the smokeout were donated to the American Cancer Society. The event took place this month because November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month.

The American Cancer Society's Web site offers tools and tips on how to quit smoking and educates users on exactly what smoking is doing to their bodies.

The Web site also has a calculator that estimates the amount of money one has spent on cigarettes in his or her lifetime.

According to the Web site, one out of every three cancer deaths is related to nicotine use, and one out of five is related to general deaths.

"For anyone that's been affected by any kind of cancer, it all comes down to the same thing," Goldstein said. "It doesn't matter what kind it is. Today when a student walks by and thinks to himself he knows someone who has cancer, maybe he'll pick up a pamphlet and read about it."