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| Bluefield State College students Jeremy Gibson (left) and Scott Carr recently spoke to students at Mountain View Elementary/Middle School in Union, delivering a positive message that encourages young students to abstain from tobacco use. The students, members of Dr. Donald Caudill's marketing classes, received special recognition for their presentation at a collegiate competition in Flatwoods. |
(BLUEFIELD)-Delivering a positive message that encourages young students to abstain from tobacco use, Bluefield State College marketing/management students Scott Carr and Jeremy Gibson are hitting the road.
The students, members of Dr. Donald Caudill's marketing classes, received special recognition for their presentation at a collegiate competition in Flatwoods. Last week, they spoke to more than 30 students at Mountain View Elementary/Middle School in Union.
"We talked to students about the health-related and social reasons for not smoking," noted Carr, ajunior from Peterstown. "Much of what we discussed was developed during a tobacco cessation study at Bluefield State."
The elementary school students were eager participants, according to Gibson, a junior from Bluefield, VA. "We were surprised to see the number of young students, age seven and up, who had smoked," Gibson added. "We enjoyed the opportunity to talk to them, and we're hopeful the message will be one that can steer them to healthy choices."
Recently, the Applied Research and Technology Center at BSC received a $10,000 grant from the West Virginia Bureau of Public Health to underwrite an effort to conduct research and develop strategies to encourage students who smoke to quit, and provide incentives for other students not to start smoking. BSC students developed and administered a 91-question survey to nearly 1/4 of the students on the College's Bluefield Campus to gain an understanding of the types of students more likely to smoke, examine why they smoke, and analyze the results and tailor a marketing plan to promote socially acceptable tobacco cessation at BSC.
Dr. Caudill, Professor of Marketing, and Dr. Bernadette Dragich, BSC Professor of Nursing, are co-investigators of the initiative. The presentations of Carr and Gibson were developed as BSC marketing students created posters promoting tobacco cessation and BSC baccalaureate nursing students produced informational bulletin boards to encourage students to "kick the smoking habit."
"We really enjoyed the opportunity to interact with the elementary and middle school students during our presentation," Carr stated. "We'd like to have more opportunities to talk to public school students. This is a very important message."
May 8, 2002
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