A 2003 study revealed that more than one out of five high school students is a smoker. And nearly all adult smokers claimed to have started their smoking before the age of 18. A new program here on campus aims to help students stop before the problem gets out of hand.

Judy Rauzi, coordinator of Healthy Start, is in charge of the Smoking Cessation Program held on campus. This program is for students who get caught smoking or end up turning themselves in. Students who get caught can choose to pay a $275 fine or take the class.

A smoker of six years, Arnissa de Ocampo, junior, is happy that the program helped her stop and is now reaching out to others. She says she has no right to judge but would advise all smokers to quit.

Rauzi does individual informational meetings with the students because she believes group meetings are "not as productive." During this meeting she gives visual presentations to show how smoking affects the body.

This year alone the campus security monitors have caught 23 students smoking on campus and one went in voluntarily to get help. Overall this is four times the amount that they had to deal with last year. Rauzi hopes they do not have any more students getting caught this year.

"My goal is just to educate, not to preach," said Rauzi. She believes she won't be able to help everyone but tries to help at least one person.

De Ocampo says that the program gave her a relationship of comfort. She wasn't to sure about the program when she started. "I didn't think it was any of her business," she said laughing, "but I understood why she was doing it."

For de Ocampo the best part of this program was seeing visuals of what she was doing to herself. The visuals were "cool" to her but she did find them "revolting." It made her realize that it wasn't healthy for her future and wasn't plainly, safe. Like Rauzi, de Ocampo hopes people take advantage of this opportunity to help themselves.