Aurora U. Earns Grant For Tobacco Education

AURORA, Ill. November 16, 2006 - Aurora University’s Wellness Center received a $3,000 grant from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale for a tobacco education program.

Cheryl Block, center director, said the SIUC’s Center for Rural Health and Social Service Development awarded the grant. It will fund components of its “Live Free-Tobacco Free” initiative at AU.

The initiative is funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Illinois Department of Public Health. In its fourth year at SIUC, the initiative’s primary focus is on replicating the model at other Illinois colleges and universities.

According to Block, AU’s Wellness Center will use grant funds to establish baseline data regarding student tobacco use, and attitudes and beliefs surrounding tobacco. A survey of students is underway.

In addition to the survey, the Wellness Center has launched a “Get REAL” education campaign. The campaign focuses on four educational goals: (R) Reduce the use of tobacco; (E) Expose misleading advertising techniques by tobacco manufacturers; (A) Awareness of tobacco effects; and (L) Lasting change: encourage smokers to consider quitting.

Block said the Wellness Center has partnered with various student organizations on campus to help promote the “Get REAL” educational campaign this semester.

As part of the campaign, AU will observe the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout on Thursday, Nov. 16. Included will be displays, a “Quit Pit” with a NASCAR theme, and a costumed “Snarlboro” character confronting campus smokers.

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