Antismoking Syndrome
Since the New Year, the media have been waging a campaign warning of the dangers of smoking and urging people to stop smoking.The news that Lee Ju-il, a famous comedian, had lung cancer and Ha Il-sung, a famous baseball broadcaster, entered a hospital due to myocardial infarction was shocking to Koreans, especially those heavy-smokers who enjoyed smoking more than two packs of cigarettes a day.Under this atmosphere, a variety of antismoking campaigns are being conducted throughout society. Some companies even provide their employees with an incentive wage to stop them from smoking or designate their buildings as no smoking places.How about our campus? There are a lot of freshmen who start smoking after entering university each year. They are much effected by their contemporaries and senior students at school and ape their behaviors. Also, they take pride in their new smoking habit because it is taboo breaking, suggests they are individuals and may even express their dissatisfaction with society.The change from non-smoking university students to smoking students is aggravated by the above factors. However, the problem is that many non-smokers are exposed to second-hand smoke due to inconsiderate smokers in public places including intramural rest areas, drinking houses and so on. And such things happen very frequently on campus, too.Thus, it is inspiring that about 500 students from university environmental circles are participating in "Smoking Manner Campaign" planned to establish proper smoking customs by Maeil Business Newspaper, Maekyung TV and the Ministry of Justice.According to the campaign, it is urgent to make a clean environment in which smokers and non-smokers can live together on campus. For that, smokers must know very clearly where to smoke and where to drop cigarette butts.On campus, it is quite clear that non-smokers' rights as well as smokers' need to be respected. Let's respect smoking customs that consider non-smokers and the campus environment we all live in.