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16B - The Michigan Daily - WeekeiMagaziie - Thursday, February 21, 2002
UHS provides special kits to help quit smoking

= BY Rich Haffner
For the Daily
Unless you've lived under a rock
most of your life, or been stuck in
Bursley the past few years, you've
heard people argue about whether or
not cigarette smoking is sexy. Word
on the street (read: "Diag") is that
smoking is sexy.
A very informal poll of smokers
on the steps of the Harlan Hatcher
Graduate Library indicates a univer-
sal belief that indeed, smoking is
often an attractive turn-on.

"Why else would people smoke at
the bar?" asked one smoker who
wished to remain anonymous. "To
be noticed," she answered.
Her equally anonymous friend
concurred, "Why do people smoke
after sex? To be sexy. It's just a prel-
ude to Round Two."
A plethora of web sites, dedicated
to the fetish of smoking, _equate
smoking with sex, as evidenced by
T-shirts available for sale that read
"Smoking IS Sexy."
University Health Service offi-

cials however, say that smoking is
far from sexy.
"Most students don't smoke," said
UHS official Carol Tucker.
According to data compiled from
the Student Life Survey, 76 percent
of students do not smoke (consistent
with data published by the Centers
for Disease Control).
UHS is currently distributing
smoking Quit Kits. The kits include
seven brochures, an "I Quit" sticker
(like an "I gave blood" sticker), a
sheet of word magnets and a troll
key chain. The brochures deal with
tobacco and its effects, so their
inclusion in the kits is understand-
able.
According to Tucker, UHS used
student input when planning its lat-
est smoking cessation campaign.
Part of this input involved a free
word association game with two cat-
egories: positive images and images
associated with smoking. Student
responses to the word "smoking"
included the words: party, drink,
puke, lick, boyfriend, kiss, sex, eat,

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"I just need four more cigarettes before I quit."

condoms and butts. These were later
put on magnets which were included
in the kits.
"'Butts' was common for both
categories," said Tucker, and noth-
ing is cuter than a troll butt, thus the

I

inclusion of the troll key chains in
the kits.
While the troll might not help you
realize the negative effects of smok-
ing, the content of the pamphlets
will.
Buried deep within one of the
brochures is this seemingly innocu-
ous fact: within two weeks to three
months of quitting smoking, blood
circulation improves.
This means that if you quit smok-
ing, there is increased blood flow to
your penis when you have an erec-
tion. In short, smoking may be sexy,
but not smoking makes a man
stronger and sexier.
Which brings us to the need for
condoms. Now available from UHS
are Spring Break Survival Kits.
These kits include two condoms, a
pack of lubricant, a pack of sun-
screen, an alcohol impairment chart
and the all-important "How to Use a
Condom" pamphlet. The kits are
available on the Diag, in some resi-
dence halls and from University
Students Against Cancer.
Quit Kits and other goodies (con-
doms, lubricant, trolls with cute
butts) are now available at UHS. If
you are ready to quit smoking and
would like to meet with a UHS cli-
nician, call 764-8325 tohschedule an
appointment.

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