Caterina De Gaetano J1 Semester Long Story

When she doesnt have a cigarette, Ashley Drzymala feels like peeling the skin off of her face. Drzymala, a fourth-year international relations and women studies major, began smoking casually when she was 10-years-old and hasnt gone without a cigarette since. Twelve years later, she is still smoking about a pack a day, she said. Drzymalas smoking habit is not unique among the SUNY New Paltz campus or other universities for that matter, according to Christopher Terry, assistant psychology professor at Elmira College. Terry conducted a study in 2011 titled, Perceptions of Risk Among College Smokers: Relationships to Smoking Status, where he sent out surveys measuring risk perceptions of smoking to Syracuse University students. The study found students who identify as either smokers or social smokers consider the risks less harmful to their own health, said Terry. In addition, Terry said he found that smokers and non-smokers alike tended to think that more students were smoking than actually do. Students in general tend to overestimate how many peers engage in risky behaviors and are more accepting of it than they are, said Terry. They just think the rates are higher, but this is harmful because it could make [students] think that [smoking] is more acceptable. Joe Neggie, third-year radio and television production major, described himself as a bit of a rebel child. He has been smoking cigarettes since he was 14. He described smoking as a way of life and a decision like anything else. Smoking is part of life, a decision. It is not something to be looked down upon, he said. Neggie said his friend just handed him a cigarette when they were hanging out, and he didnt think anything of it. Neggie knew the risks, but he didnt see the problem with taking the cigarette, he said. He is not the first student with this kind of account. Sarah Boalt, fourth-year journalism major, was also 14-years-old when she smoked her first cigarette. She said her addiction stems from her background. Originally from Stormville, N.Y., Boalt attended high school in Carmel where she said everyone smoked and if you didnt smoke, you smoked crack or shot up heroine.

She said all of her friends smoked during high school and because students were allowed to leave campus during lunch, it made it easier for her to take up smoking. She described her decision to smoke as purely choice. I just went up to my friend and asked for a cigarette, Boalt said. Terry said that students like Neggie and Boalt, are more prone to participate in risky behavior when they believe that others participate. Students involve themselves in riskier behaviors because they believe their peers participate in similar activities, said Terry. This makes it socially acceptable to engage in activities which one might normally avoid. Drzymala started smoking at an early age because her older sisters and friends smoked. Although she thought it was cool back then, she feels smoking is not socially acceptable currently. It is really frowned upon today, she said. I feel like smokers are stigmatized and isolated. Kaity Gorman, fourth-year visual arts major, has been a smoker since she was 16. She believes that smoking may be socially acceptable in college, but as time goes on, the fad becomes a shameful habit. I think smoking is socially acceptable while youre in college and maybe a few years after, but no one wants to be the 30-year-old at a family party outside smoking, trying to hide it from the nieces and nephews, she said. According to Terry, smoking is not socially acceptable like it was in previous generations. His conclusions showed that students, who smoked occasionally but denied it, did so because to label themselves as smokers would result in less approval. Non-identified smokers felt the local community accepted it, but it was not acceptable to become a smoker, he said. They may think, I dont buy my own cigarettes, I only smoke in certain sites, so I may be less stigmatized. Within the localized campus community of New Paltz, smoking is popular regardless of status, according to Boalt. When I see people not smoking, I think its funny, Boalt said. Total strangers bum cigarettes from me. I dont think they have enough receptacles on this campus. Students may smoke for social reasons, but this is not the only explanation for the habit. Terry, although his study focused on social perceptions of smoking, agreed that smoking can be used to decrease anxiety among stressed students. He said that when dealing with a potential

addictive substance, using it as a constant stress reliever can put one at risk for addiction and health issues. Terry also said that smoking rates generally increase over the four years of college due to amounts of stress, peer pressures and risky behaviors students pick up during this time. I believe smoking is more acceptable and popular in college because college in itself is kind of a limbo area where consequences for things seem distant and youre kind of untouchable, said Gorman. Some New Paltz students agree that smoking relieves stress and could be used as a gateway for making friends. Neggie said smoking completely relieves his stress, especially when he is under a lot of pressure at school. He said he can go through a pack easily during finals week. I find I do my best thinking working through problems when I am smoking, he said. For Boalt, smoking takes the edge off when she is upset or stressed. Cigarettes contain Nicotine, which is a drug, she said. Boalt experiences Nicotine highs where she said she becomes really light headed and feels relaxed. If Im pissed off, I want a cigarette, she said. I find comfort smoking and something else to focus on. Abram Manevich, fifth-year English education major, finds smoking brings good conversation in addition to its stress reducing capabilities. He said that smoking helps to carry deep conversations. He said this is when he needs a cigarette. However, Manevich said that he craves a cigarette the most when he is stressed or working on papers, however, smoking elevates his blood pressure, causing him to become even more anxious. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), smoking can cause coronary heart disease, lung cancer, vascular disease, oral cancer and stomach cancer, among many other diseases. The CDC said that the risk of coronary heart disease among smokers is between two and four times higher than non-smokers. Strokes are two and four times more likely to occur for a smoker and the chances of getting lung cancer are 13 times more for women who smoke and 23 times for men. Some student smokers are aware of harmful affects tobacco can cause, but they do not feel the need to worry about something that hasnt happened yet. Manevich is one of those students. He feels that because of his young age, he doesnt have to worry. He said he hasnt felt any serious health effects yet, but he realizes that he may wake up one morning and something will be wrong. In my 22-year-old body, I havent felt any effects. It happens overtime, he said. One day youre fine and can wake up the next day and youre not. Im not afraid because it hasnt become a reality.

Neggie doesnt think he will be experiencing ill affects any time soon. Although he said he understands that there are health risks, it isnt an alarm for him at the moment because as he put it, he has good genes. Drzymala is well aware of what she faces in the future as a result of her 12 year habit. Cancer and Emphysema runs in her family she said. After smoking you get cancer, and that is what she is most terrified of, she said. Boalt said she already has low blood pressure and poor circulation. She said she is at risk for blood clots and cant take medications such as birth control due to the elevated chance of clotting, stroke and heart attack she would have. Quitting has been an option for some students, but for others it doesnt seem plausible. Boalt said she never tried to quit, and it never crossed her mind. She smokes at most one pack a day, depending on the week. She hasnt quit because to her, it is irrelevant. I love cigarettes. I can smoke a pack and share with everyone, she said. It is not relevant for me to quit because whoever I am with is smoking. Both Neggie and Drzymala tried quitting, but it didnt work out that way. Drzymala has tried everything from the patch to placebo pills and neither method helped. The longest she has quit was two days. Neggie tried to stop smoking cold turkey, but he continued smoking because his friends pressured him back into it. Manevich said he has stopped for two to three weeks at a time, but he never made a full commitment to quit because he knows he doesnt have the stamina to do so presently. Every time I stop, I go on 10 day retreats, he said. Whats difficult is when you are around smokers. Terry said that there are certain deterrents to smoking, one being the high prices of cigarettes. He said that research shows anytime taxes are raised and something become a financial burden, certain behaviors are curbed. He said people try to cut habits when they cant afford it, however, the New Paltz students find ways around heavy prices of cigarettes. Drzymala said she buys her cigarettes off of a reservation in Buffalo because they are cheaper. If her family cant send her a carton in time, she said she is forced to buy some from local gas stations which puts a hole in her wallet. Manevich purchases cigarettes or tobacco from his housemates for one dollar. He said buying cigarettes frugally deters his habit more than it would if he were to purchase cigarettes from town. Neggie buys his cigarettes across state lines because they are significantly cheaper, he said.

One SUNY New Paltz student is not jumping hoops anymore to purchase her desired cigarettes, but is in the process of quitting her 13 year smoking habit. Jonna Stone, a fourth-year biology education major began smoking everyday at 13 with her older sisters and friends. Stone and her boyfriend of 10 years are now on a mission to quit, she said. Stone was at a half a pack a day before she began weaning herself off of cigarettes. Stone, 26, wants to begin a family and does not want to be that parent who smokes, she said. Smoking is not socially acceptable today, she said. Eventually, I want to have kids and that is more unacceptable to smoke and have children. The more it is unaccepted, the more I dont want to do it. To Stone, smoking is disgusting now. Stones mother had cancer and Stone herself has a lymphatic issue which causes poor circulation. She said she is feeling more winded these days and less energetic. Stones finger nails are chewed down to the wire, but she has managed to cut herself down to one cigarette a night, the last one before bed just to help her go to sleep. You think it would be easy to quit when you are younger, she said. Try to quit now because the more years that you smoke, the harder it is.