SMASH Activities

Oct. 8, 2008 SMASH partnered with the Students for Sustainable Future on the MSU campus during the 2008 Ecopalooza event. SMASH had a table with free popcorn, giveaways like massagers, water bottles, pens, notepads, and brochures on secondhand smoke hazards. Many new students signed up as members of SMASH and were interested in signing the petition for a smoke-free campus. The group's tri-board presentation of its goals, past events and facts on secondhand smoke attracted attention among participants in the event and lots of positive feedback.

Oct. 6, 2008 SMASH set up an info table and gave away free popcorn, pens and notepads during the screening of the movie "Thank you for smoking" sponsored by the Department of Media, Journalism and Film on MSU campus. Many of the students who came to watch the movie signed the petition for a smoke-free campus.

Sept. 16 & 18, 2008 SMASH conducted an awareness campaign during the Public Affairs Week at MSU. They gave away T-shirts, popcorn, massagers, water bottles, pens, notepads, and other promotional materials. To receive a T-shirt, participating students had to read aloud a fact about secondhand smoke. Many students liked the idea and shared with SMASH that they learned something interesting from these facts. On September 18, various community organizations visited the campus and that gave SMASH an opportunity to introduce their organization to the larger community. Click here to see the flyer.

August 18-24, 2008 SMASH students participated in the New Student Festival Week on the MSU campus. They had an information table at the student union to introduce SMASH to the incoming students and a petition on making the campus smoke-free. About 250 students showed their support by signing the petition and many of them joined as members of SMASH. Supporters received giveaways such as T-shirts, massagers, Frisbees, water bottles, pens and candy. Click here to see the flyers.

July 11, 2008 SMASH students and Health Promotion Specialists Shantan Ravula and Sarah Durnbaugh met with MSU President Michael Nietzel to introduce the organization and talk about MSU students' attitudes towards tobacco, as surveyed by CASE, and SMASH's future goals. They also spoke to him regarding changes to MSU's campus tobacco policy.

April 18, 2008 SMASH participated with its own booth in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life on the MSU campus. They educated other participants about the hazards of secondhand smoke, organized games to raise funds for cancer and core members stayed for the whole 12 hours from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.

April 16, 2008 SMASH participated with a booth in the second Ecopalooza event, a free concert dedicated to climate change and part of MSU's celebration of Earth Month. SMASH's goal was to raise awareness about child labor in the tobacco industry overseas. To that end, they created posters, gave away free popcorn and asked students to donate money for freeing children from forced labor at tobacco and beedi (thin cigarettes from South Asia) companies abroad.

April 11, 2008 SMASH students attended the fifth annual "Making Your Campus Tobacco-Free" workshop at Ozarks Technical Community College. The college has been a tobacco free campus for five years. SMASH presented their organization and activities towards making the Missouri State University campus smoke-free.

March 12, 2008 SMASH students participated in the Safe Spring Break Education Fair at Taylor Health & Wellness Center on the MSU campus. SMASH had a booth where they provided educational materials about the hazards of secondhand smoke and the necessity for a smoke-free campus.

Feb. 14, 2008 SMASH students held the 2008 KISS Me "Just for the Health of it" campaign on the Missouri State University campus. Around 450 students attended the event, which offered information about smoke-free air and SMASH, educational facts on Hershey kisses, and free T-shirts. Students also had a chance to sign a petition in support of clean air on campus. Click here to see related materials.

Dec. 7, 2007 SMASH released the results of the tobacco use and exposure survey they conducted among MSU students and staff during their Healthy Stress Relief Fair on Sept. 27. Results show that of the 682 people who completed the survey, 74% supported a tobacco-free campus, 80% supported smoke-free workplaces, 78% were "bothered" by cigarette butts on the ground, specifically around campus, and 99% supported clean-air environments.

Nov. 13 & 15, 2007 SMASH celebrated the 2007 Great American Smokeout with a showing of the movie "Thank you for smoking" on the Missouri State University campus. The first 100 people got free T-shirts and everyone enjoyed free popcorn. Close to 300 people attended both showings. Relay for Life and Campus Coalition for Our Environment had information booths and organizers had a presentation about smoking and secondhand smoke before the movie. Click here to see the presentation.

Sept. 27, 2007 SMASH held an outdoor Clean Air for Bears! Healthy Stress Relief Fair to offer students and staff healthy stress relief before midterms. They had bounce houses, wax hands, massages, free snacks, and information about secondhand smoke and related issues. Students filled out a survey on tobacco use and exposure to receive a free T-shirt and were entered into a prize drawing. More than 500 surveys were completed and close to 1,000 people participated in the event!

Sept. 21, 2007 SMASH gave away promotional pens to Missouri State University's first-ever dance marathon, Dance Bear-a-thon, as a way to advertise SMASH and support their fundraiser for Children's Miracle Network in the Ozarks. SMASH members also danced in the all-night event.

Sept. 19, 2007 SMASH conducted a contact table on the Missouri State University campus where they handed out fliers about their upcoming Healthy Stress Relief Fair (Sept. 27) and informational materials about secondhand smoke.

Sept. 10, 2007 SMASH conducted a contact table on the Missouri State University campus. They gave out information about SMASH and their upcoming Healthy Stress Relief Fair on Sept. 27 and had several people sign their informal petition for a smoke-free campus. They also made a short presentation during the Introduction to Public Health class. As a result of these two activities, SMASH gained 10 new members.

Sept. 10, 2007 SMASH President Adam Murphy and Health Promotion Specialist Allison Wilson conducted a PowerPoint presentation for the freshman class about the hazards of secondhand smoke and showed the video Secondhand Smoke: Triumphs and Tragedies. An evaluation showed that the majority of students in this freshman class (13 out of 17) support a tobacco-free campus.

Aug. 28, 2007 SMASH conducted a contact table on the Missouri State University campus. They gave out information about SMASH, secondhand smoke and tobacco use.

Aug. 19, 2007 SMASH students participated in the New Student Festival on the Missouri State University campus. They gave out brochures to interested freshmen about secondhand smoke on campus and SMASH. About 20 people signed up to join SMASH and many others signed an informal petition for a smoke-free campus. SMASH also made contact with other student organizations and discussed future partnerships.

July 19 & 24, 2007 SMASH had an educational booth in Plaster Students Union on the Missouri State University campus. They displayed brochures about secondhand smoke from Breathe Easy Springfield, American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, and gave away book marks and water bottles. They also got signatures of students supporting a smoke-free campus and recruited several new members of SMASH.

April 30, 2007 SMASH conducted their second contact table at the MSU campus. It was similar to the event on April 23, but had a more colorful display with handmade posters. The result: SMASH recruited a total of 132 student members.

April 23, 2007 SMASH conducted their first contact table on the MSU campus. They displayed posters from the tobacco control program of the Ministry of Health of British Columbia, Canada, the World Health Organization, the American Lung Association, and the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention about the side effects of smoking, cigarettes' harmful substances, and smoking-related deaths and diseases. They presented a slide show of tobacco-related cancers and gave away brochures and stickers. They tested students' knowledge about secondhand smoke and provided water bottles imprinted with "no smoking" as a reward for participating.

April 4, 2007 MSU students held the founding meeting of their campus alliance. They got to learn about CASE and PASS, and the goals of the coalition to raise awareness about and reduce exposure to secondhand smoke. Students set a goal of making MSU smoke free. They named their group SMASH, which stands for Students of Missouri State University Against Smoking Hazards.

March 28, 2007 A Kick Butts Day event took place at the Plaster Student Union of the Missouri State University campus. Health Promotion Specialist for Springfield Mala A-Manickam gave away pamphlets about secondhand smoke, candies, and discount coupons from the bookstore and Domino's pizza. About 70 students signed up to become members of the MSU peer group.