Editorials f
Smokeout less emphasized on campus this year
By Jerry Trently
There might be more smoke in
our hallways during today’s
“Great American Smokeout”
than there was during last year’s
observance.
Sherry Janis, Assistant to the
Director of Campus Relations,
said no student group has
volunteered to sponsor or help
with a program here at Capitol
Campus to be held in conjunction
with the national celebration.
Janis said a representative from
her staff went around and asked
clubs and organizations to supply
volunteers to help with a program
here, but that none indicated an
interest.
Last year a small observance
was held, but Janis was disap
pointed with the cooperation
from organizers of the affair.
When press came to cover what
was billed a “mock funeral” ser
vice for cigarettes, the event turn
ed out to be a last minute rush to
garner enough activity for a
newspaper photograph.
times
Jerome J. Trently, Jr Executive Editor
James E. Fitzroy Managing Editor
Kimberly C. Bush Business Manager
Sean Ferry Advertising Manager
Timothy K. Hagan Production Manager
Sharon L. DePalma ...Production Assistant
Linda A. McCarty Production Assistant
James P. Kushlan Composition Editor
Neil A. Myers Assistant Composition Editor
Jeffrey G. Shatzer Photography Editor
Robert H. Rejmaniak Sports Editor
Michele S. Haley Events Editor
Harry D. Lucas..... Copy Editor
Jeanne A. Bailets
Dennis Caldwell
Janet E. Cody
Thomas O. Dekle
Kathleen E. Heraghfy
Francoise G. Hultzapple
Beatrice Kessler
Advising and consulting,
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Thursday, November 17, 1983
Vol. 18. No. 3
Editorial Board
Contributing Staff
But not all is up in smoke.
Capitol’s Department of Food
and Housing is making an at
tempt to take a bite out of the
amount of cigarettes consumed
today.
According to Jo Ann Coleman,
Food Service Supervisor, the
Lion’s Den will offer $.20 off any
regular cold turkey sandwich if
the buyer turns in an unsmoked
cigarette to signify the “stop cold
turkey” approach.
Coleman said the same deal
was offered last year, and it was
found that “People are reluctant
to give up their cigarettes.”
Given that 85 per cent of the
55 million smokers in America
would like to quit, more effort
ought to be contrived at the cam
pus level to at least offer advice
or methodology on kicking the
habit.
The school nurse does have
several pamphlets on smoking and
quitting in her office on the first
floor of the Olmsted Building,
but because of high demand, the
nurse was unable to receive addi
tional materials from the
Shirley V. Marquet
Michael Markle
Tony G. Perry
Donald R. Strausburger
Angelo M. Vecchio
George P. Yanoshik, Jr.
John Patterson, Bern Sharfman
American Cancer Society (ACS).
The society offers materials to
groups interested in participating
in smokeout programs on a first
come, first-serve basis.
The ACS also offers the Youth
Smoking Cessation Program, a
nine-week course generally offered
to high school students.
Pat Mensker, Field Represen
tative for the Dauphin County
Unit of the ACS, said the pro-
gram could be adapted to a col
lege level.
“The ACS takes an ex-smoker
from the representative school,
trains that person, who in turn,
runs the program at the school,”
Mensker said.
On the national level, the 1982
campaign enjoyed some success.
“Nineteen million smokers at
tempted to quit last year,” Men
sker said, “And, within 24 hours,
Semester change creates problems
for professors and students
By Timothy K. Hagan
The 1983 Fall Semester will be
remembered as the “Semester of
transition.” The transition in the
academic sense was from the term
to the semester system but there
was also a period of transition for
the students and faculty.
The Student Government
Association formed a Semester
Transition Committee to find out
what the students » most common
problems are in dealing with the
semester transition.
The majority of the student
body believes the basic problems
include: the workload is over-
whelming, the pace is too fast,
tests seem to fall at the same
time, tests are too long for a
50-minute period, professors are
keeping students overtime, there
is not enough time for course
drop and credit drops should be
extended to eight credits.
David G. Watkin, Assistant
Professor of Management and
Chairman of the Faculty Council
believes the semester system tran
sition problem is a serious matter
and one that will be discussed at
the next council meeting in
December.
Watkin stated that at the start,
there was no real consideration,
no evaluation on how to do this
system.
“Most of the problems are
transition problems, adapting
from 75 minutes to 50 minutes,”
said Watkin. “My own feeling
and opinions expressed to me by
other professors is that there is no
feeling of continuity like the
i Page 10
4.5 million were still off cigaret
tes, and within one to 11 days,
2.3 million were successfull in
quitting.”
Minsker said this year’s goal is
to get one in every five smokers
to give up the habit.
In 1982, 41 per cent of females
who smoke participated in the
smokeout, while 31.8 per cent of
the male smoking population did.
Mensker said more females
smoke than do males and that the
number of female smokers is on
the rise.
As Janis indicated, hopefully
some group will take an interest
in sponsoring a program here
next year. But if you are a
smoker interested in quitting,
look for information and lung
test demonstrations at the health
fair in Spring, or contact the
ACS.
Monday, Tuesday—Thursday, Fri
day term system. By the time you
review or remember from the last
lecture and start on something
the time seems to
disappear.”
“Ideally the semester system is
supposed to cause less stress for
the students,” according to Dr.
Marian Krieger, coordinator,
counseling services at Capitol
Campus.
“The 15-week semester, with a
supposedly reduced credit load
per course, will allow the student
more time to absorb the material,
with hopes of creating a more
- relaxed situation.”
Unfortunately, the scenerio
does not appear to be working.
Krieger generally agreed that the
statements she has been receiving
from students support the fin
dings of the SGA committee.
Krieger is studying the stress, on
students, caused by the semester
transition during the 1983 Fall
Semester and 1984 Spring
Semester.
What can be done to alleviate
stressful situations has already
been started.
Watkin suggested that
realistically, each faculty member
has to honestly look at themselves
individually and see if there is a
problem. He believed that the
solutions are going to have to be
done division by division, because
each division has different
situations.
“I honestly believe that the
transition has caused more of an
adjustment problem for both the
students and faculty than anyone
expected,” said Watkin.