The Great American Smokeout

Nov. 15 marked The Great American Smokeout at Cal-State Long Beach. Sponsered by the American Cancer Society, its goal is to ask all smokers to quit smoking for the day. Meanwhile, it is also asking students to recognize the negative effects of smoking plus offering solutions to helping smokers quit the habit for good.

Starting at 10 a.m. and ending at 2 p.m., booths were set up on Friendship Walk handing out pamphlets and brochures providing cold hard facts, statistics, help, and programs provided by the campus. They also had a little fun providing nail files, chewing gum and other quit-kits associated with smoking.

Some booths also provided a free sandwhich if you signed a petition for a smoke-free campus. And other booths tried to mimic the "Truth" commercials with parodies of smoking such as students "dropping dead" and statistics yelled over a loud speaker.

Picket signs were also set up on Frienship Walk citing statistics such as "Smoking Accounts for 30% of all Cancer Deaths and 87% of all Lung Cancer Deaths." R.I.P. picket signs for George Harrison and Walt Disney due to lung cancer were also on the walkway.

The Great American Smokeout is a collaborative effort as Colleges Against Cancer, The Health Center and Health Science Student Association joined together.