Purdue News

March 31, 2003 Student group to promote smoke-free lifestyles WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The SmokeFree Purdue Coalition has designated Wednesday (4/2) as a day to improve the campus community and to promote tobacco-free healthy lifestyles. From 1:30-5 p.m. people can visit an informational booth for "Kick Butts Day" on the Engineering Mall. The booth will be moved to Stewart Center in the event of inclement weather. Giveaways, games and prizes will be available, along with educational brochures about the effects of tobacco smoke. "Smoking affects everyone, not just those individuals who smoke," said TusaRebecca Schap, SmokeFree Purdue project coordinator in the Purdue Student Wellness Office. "Secondhand smoke has been classified as a Class A carcinogen. Smoke from the burning end of a cigarette contains more than 4,000 chemicals and 40 carcinogens including: formaldehyde, cyanide, arsenic, carbon monoxide, methane and benzene." Inhaling secondhand smoke kills 53,000 nonsmokers in the United States each year, Schap said. Because there are many deaths associated with secondhand smoke, it is the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States, Schap said. The SmokeFree Purdue Coalition is a recently formed student-led group. Its mission is to improve the quality of life on campus by promoting tobacco-free healthy lifestyles. SmokeFree Purdue is a grant project through the Student Wellness Office and is supported by Smokefree Indiana with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CONTACT: Schap, (765) 496-2624, schapte@purdue.edu; Leigh Scroggin, student coordinator, (765) 496-2624, scroggil@purdue.edu. Writer: Amy Patterson-Neubert, (765) 494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page