Great American Smokeout D -Day, also known as Don't Smoke Day, might be even more significant this year.
Smoking is on the rise on college campuses.
The percentage of college students that smoked in the past 30 days leapt from 22.3 percent in 1993 to 28.5 percent in 1997, according to the Nov. 18 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Not only are more college students smoking, but students in the upper Midwest are more likely to smoke than in other regions of the country, the study said. The event will take place in Coffman Union's Fireside Lounge today from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. A sports theme will be used to urge students to quit. The head coaches of the men's and women's athletic teams were invited to attend. Every year, more than 1 million Americans develop cancer, and more than 560,000 die from the disease, according the American Cancer Society.