UK Brings Awareness to Issue of Tobacco Use During Annual Kick Butts Day

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 16, 2012) − University of Kentucky students, staff and faculty will have the opportunity to stand out, speak up at UK's second annual Kick Butts Day from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 17, on the Student Center patio. 
 

The goal of Kick Butts Day is to bring awareness to the issue of tobacco use and how it impacts Kentuckians.
 

"Nearly 8,000 people die each year in Kentucky due to smoking," said Fadyia Lowe, tobacco treatment specialist at University Health Service. "That's 22 people per day." 
 

To illustrate the huge number of people who lose their lives to tobacco, there will be a display of white sheets covered with handprints, with each handprint representing five lives lost each year. Some of the handprints will be in black paint to represent the 30 percent of UK students who use tobacco.
 

Two hundred remaining hand prints are needed to represent the almost 1,000 lives lost each year in Kentucky among nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke. Information and resources will be available on how to stop using tobacco or how to help someone else quit.

There will be giveaways including free fountain drink coupon from campus dining locations and T-shirts from UK's Student Heath Advisory Council (SHAC).
 

Students, faculty, and staff can also learn about how to become a Tobacco-free Take Action! ambassador to increase compliance with UK’s tobacco-free policy. To report violations of UK’s tobacco-free policy, please email us at ReportTFviolation@uky.edu.
 

On Thursday, April 19 from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., a 'Grab and Go" information station will be set up at the Rose Street walkway.  Information on the Tobacco-Free policy, quitting resources and free drink cards will be distributed.
 

Kick Butts Day is sponsored by University Health Service, SHAC, and the Tobacco-free Campus Initiative Task Force.  For more information on UK’s tobacco-free policy, go to www.uky.edu/Tobaccofree

Media Contact: Ann Blackford at (859)323-6442 or ann.blackford@uky.edu