by Sunnie Redhouse
Daily Lobo
Pointing to pictures of damaged livers, student Martin Carbajal said he saw how tobacco can affect a person's life.
"It's pretty interesting, and it relates to my family," he said.
Carbajal took part in the Great American Smokeout held by the Student Health Center on Wednesday.
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His dad is a smoker, Carbajal said, and he wants to learn as much as he can about the effects of smoking to share with his dad.
"It's important to be aware," he said. "Most of the time we don't know what smoking does to us," he said.
The purpose of the event was to educate students about smoking and to get smokers to quit - even if it was just for a day.
The official Smokeout Day takes place the third Thursday of every November, but the center held the event a day early to prepare students for the day, said Melinda Yates, a peer educator at the Student Health Center.
"Hopefully we can catch them and expose them to the reality (of smoking)," she said.
Yates said the majority of booths consisted of peer educators and consultants, which made the event more successful.
"It's much easier for people to talk to their peers," Yates said.
Student Lupe Rubio said she usually does not take part in informational events on campus, but this one was different.
"I have a smoker at home and it's not too good for my baby," she said.
Rubio said she is learning about the effects of smoking and ideas on how a smoker can quit. She wants to share what she learned with family members who smoke cigarettes, she said.
"We're an unhealthy society," Rubio said. "It's good to get a dose of reality."
Yates said even though the event is only for one day it can still make a difference in the life of someone who is trying to quit.
"If you get a smoker to quit for one day they can see they have the ability to quit easily," she said.
Other booths represented were the American Cancer Society and the American Lung Association.
Carla Maes, community relationship manager of the American Cancer Society, said they came by to help inform students about the negative health effects to smoking.
"A lot of youth smoke," Maes said. "If we don't get the message out to younger people it will keep snowballing."
Maes said the event was also important in preventing people from picking up the habit.
"It gives those who don't smoke a chance to see the effects of smoking ahead of time," she said.
Nicole McCarty, student events coordinator for the Student Health Center, said exposing information about the harms of tobacco use is important to the overall student population at UNM.
"We want to increase awareness of the risks of smoking, especially in the college population," McCarty said. "Students need to know that they're not just killing themselves by smoking, but they're killing everyone around them."
