A challenge more difficult than banning tobacco use on all universities in Louisiana is actually researching what smoking studies have been done before. That was the task my public relations campaign group had the privilege, for a lack of better words, of tackling the past few weeks. Research is a word that makes even the strongest men flinch in agony. Darth Vader would even say that research is just too evil.
All evil villans are faced with a choice at the cross-roads of their evil lives. They can either continue down the path of destruction and always be feared, or they can reinvent themselves, join the good side and become a hero (que the revelation music).
Many people would agree that research starts out as pure evil. Wreaking havoc among society and scaring the villagers. It can eventually take one of two paths. It can reveal absolutely nothing about the objectives you want to achieve. At this point, you have to decide to either continue down the evil path of researching, or you can abandon ship and pretend you never experienced the dark side. The other path research can take is the evolution into a hero. Sometimes, the results of your research can clarify your objectives and lead to a successful campaign. Research hero’s become the foundation of any study. When things start to go wrong, your research is there to once again save the world.
At the start of our research journey, we knew that emotional preparation was going to be necessary if we were to make it out alive. Letters were written to loved ones and goals were successfully scratched off bucket-lists as we went into this daring assignment of researching smoking statistics. This was a painstaking task to complete for our client, SmokingWords. Not only is there an enormous amount of research circulating in this universe and other galaxies far, far away, but it also challenged some of our emotions. There was one piece of information that I won’t ever forget. According to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders and suicides combined. That’s a shocking revelation for anyone, smoker or not, to have to learn. In Louisiana alone, approximately 6,500 adults die each year from smoking related illnesses. That number doesn’t include all of the people who suffer from secondhand smoke. Just when you thought the force could protect you from any evil, you were wrong. Even jedi knights are negatively effected by smoking.
Another shocking discovery is the monetary costs of smoking in Louisiana. Annual health care cost directly caused by smoking is approximately $1.47 billion. And you’re worried about LSU budget cuts? Are you kidding me? People know the risks and the financial sacrafices behind smoking and yet they still do it.
I know that people have a choice to smoke and they should enjoy the right to do so. However, as a non-smoker myself, I don’t want to be a part of that health care statistic because of smoke. I understand that the risks of secondhand smoke are less severe than that of a smoker, but it’s pretty obvious that some of the $1.47 billion went to people who don’t smoke but was still affected by secondhand smoke.
SmokingWords has received some help with it’s initiatives. In October of 2011, WAFB Channel 9 News, covered a story about Dr. Judith Sylvester, director of SmokingWords, and the fight to get LSU to ban smoking on campus. Although it portrayed SmokingWords in a positive way, it also highlighted opposition to a ban of that nature. In my opinion, a lack of smoking education is to blame. If students were aware of all the risks surrounding tobacco, I think SmokingWords would gain a lot more support from the student body. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
Aside from gathering secondary research, we have also worked toward gathering primary data through a survey. We disseminated the survey among students on the LSU campus. Students were asked various questions about smoking habits. The survey is completely confidential to protect participant’s identity and to ensure fair results. To take the survey, CLICK HERE.
Through all the research we have done on smoking facts and statistics on college campuses, it gives me more of an incentive to work to make LSU a smoke-free campus. I can joke about villans and super heros, but voluntarily harming the health of you and others around you is no joke. Hopefully, our research can be a hero for others to inspire them to quit smoking. If not for yourself, then for others who have already made the choice to stay healthy. Heed the advice from the great jedi Yoda, “Quit smoking, you must!”
samvicknair 