Final Reflection for KCSP

My time with the Kentucky Center for Smoke Free Policy has come to a close with the semester.  Here are a few of my comments about how the semester with KCSP went,

Final Reflection

This semester had its ups and downs with my service learning experiences, but overall, volunteer work is always a great thing to do. I know that it is something I've always been involved in and will continue to do in my future life! Kentucky Center for smoke free policy

Final video reflection

Now the semester is coming to a close, I have reflected on my service learning organization volunteering. Enjoy!

Final reflection

It's been a busy few months, but the semester is finally coming to a close. I took some time to reflect on my work with the Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy. 

Third Reflection with KCSP

Finally, things have turned around and my group members and I were able to complete some hands-on service hours.  November 19th was the Great American Smokeout which was essentially a smoke-free tailgate.  The morning began with handing out cards for the Kentucky Center for Smoke-free policy all around campus.  Next came the actual tailgate.  The tailgate was at a great location and had lots of interesting things to catch UK students’ eyes.  In the center there were tables set up that displayed information about the dangers of smoking.  There were also games and prizes you could win within the circle of tables. Another great part was the board that you could write a note on that was against smoking and in turn, you got a free t-shirt.  There was also plenty of chili and hot chocolate to go around, which I know many people definitely enjoyed.  Additionally, there was a s’mores table! This was where students could walk up, grab a premade bag of s’mores ingredients and roast their own marshmallow in order to make their s’mores.  I was lucky enough to work this table for almost the entirety of my time that day.  I have to say I think that was probably the most fun table at the tailgate because everyone was so amazed they could roast their own marshmallow.  While they were doing so, we were able to talk to them about trying to stop tobacco smoking and just about everyone we talked to admitted they had never smoked before!  At one point, some of the cheerleaders came and started talking on the microphone to people on their way to class which really lightened the mood.  Overall, the tobacco-free tailgate was a success.

These awesome s'mores packages were a hit and many took some to go.

Getting to see all that goes into the planning of these events and the volunteers and all they do was amazing and I wish we had gotten to do more events like the tobacco-free tailgate this semester.  I definitely feel that the tailgate helped raise awareness for smoke-free policy and was able to help discourage people from smoking.  I am excited to see what the KCSP has in store for the future.

These tables were informative and fun for all passers-by.

Finally Volunteering!

The s'mores booth

I finally got to volunteer for the Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy! Just before Thanksgiving break was the Great American Smokeout- a national day set aside to encourage people to stop smoking. On the University of Kentucky's campus the Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy set up a huge party in front of the library, complete with s'mores, hot chocolate, and many other treats. I got up early on November 19th and went over to the nursing building to help set up for the day. I hauled some posters and other relevant knick-knacks out to the tailgate site, and then I helped set up tables and displays. In a span of about 45 minutes we transformed the walkway into a massive display all about the dangers of smoking. There were graphic displays with damaged organs in jars and a large bin where cigarettes could be thrown out. There were also tamer booths with games and anti-smoking pledges that could be signed. Once the event was set up, I was given  a large stack of cards with information about Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy as well as a coupon for a free drink. I spent the rest of my time walking around campus, handing out these cards and advertising for the event. I spoke to many people all over campus about the event and the hazards of smoking- even for nonsmokers. It felt so good to finally work with this organization!

Paul and I handing out cards

It was awesome to finally get some insight into how this organization serves the university and the greater community. Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy does so much good- by educating the community on the dangers of smoking, advocating for laws that protect the quality of air for all, and enforcing smoking bans- and I enjoyed getting to help spread the message. It was really rewarding to feel like I was doing something to help encourage people to stop smoking. It is such a problem, especially on this "smoke-free" campus. Unlike our earlier service this actually felt like we were making a difference, and it was awesome!








Want some more information about Kentucky Smoke-free Policy? Check out these great links:

Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy website: http://www.mc.uky.edu/TobaccoPolicy/KCSP/

Social Media:

Twitter and Facebook

This video is actually a positive one!! I have photos of the tailgate and a short video of a "crowd" that stopped by, it was definitely a lot of fun and I got to meet some really nice people.

third reflection

November came, and this was the month where I was able to volunteer for something fun, entertaining, and educational. I was able to inform people about smoking and the hazardous effects it has on them and other people. This was a tabling event where I was able to show statistics, visuals, and give them papers with various facts about smoking. It was outside before the Thanksgiving break, in front of the library where thousands of students walk by everyday. Even if the students didn't stop or just walked by, I feel that tabling outside had an effect on everyone because it just made them more aware of the cause that this organization stands for. There was corn-hole, group members were able to hand out drinks, people were able to come up and write motivational sayings or quotes that promote the stopping of smoking on the campus. It was awesome seeing the students just stop by, because it showed they were willing to learn more about the topic and what they could do to help the campus stay as smoke-free as possible. Students were able to learn about a variety of topics associated with smoking, specifically lung Cancer because November is Lung Cancer Awareness month. They were able to fully see and understand how the lungs will change from a healthy pinkish color to being black and making it hard for them to breathe. Students were also able to learn about e-cigarettes, secondhand smoking, and smoking hookah. Many students had misconceptions that these were less dangerous, but in fact they just harm your body in different ways. The activities for students to engage in were enjoyable, and this experience as a whole was pleasant. However, this seemed to be the only big event that this organization had for the group to partake in; that was interesting, to say the least.
  

Video Post 2

Info table 

Motivational quitting board

Tobacco trash can

video reflection

This is a video reflection on what I have done so far for Kentucky Smoke Free. I am also attaching the link below just in case the video does not play above.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-d-bDpKdBU#action=share

Ted Talk Analysis

Reducing Smoking Deaths: Is it Rocket Science?

Today I am analyzing a Ted Talk given by Linda M. Collins at a TEDx event at Pennsylvania State University entitled "Reducing Smoking Deaths: Is it Rocket Science?". In her talk Collins presents behavioral interventions, like counseling, to meet the goal of lowering the amount of people who smoke in the United States to 12% by the year 2020. She uses the example of NASA's successful moon landing to detail a way to design interventions methodically and analytically so that we can be sure the interventions are working to lower the number of smoking adults. After all, NASA met there goal of putting a man on the moon in ten years, why should this goal be any different?

The title of the speech sets up the subject quite nicely. From the title the audience, and I, knew she would be talking about the smoking epidemic in this country. Everyone knows that smoking is bad, and they should try to quit. But because so few do quit successfully, the audience was expecting the speech to lay out a new method to encourage stopping tobacco use. This she did, but she also criticized the way that clinical trials that try to determine the way to help people stop smoking are run. I, for one, also did not expect the use of the NASA example, however I thought it tied in nicely to the lesson of the talk.

The ideal shape of  a presentation

I think that the speaker did a very good job of setting up the contrast between what is and what could be. She begins by setting up why smoking is bad. She puts the statistics in terms which her audience can understand, saying that "the equivalent of the entire population of Atlanta dies because of cigarette smoking" and "the equivalent of the entire undergraduate population here" die because of second hand smoking every year. That created a jaw-dropping moment, because it put the statistics into tangible amounts the audience could grasp. People on the campus of Penn State know how massive the undergraduate population is (about 46,000 students according to Google). She then contrasts our failure to lower these numbers with our great success of landing someone on the moon. She jumps back and forth from how we currently help people quit smoking and how we worked to get to the moon to show how, if we applied the same concepts to smoking, we might get the same results. She then presents utopia, the study she is collaborating on to determine behavioral interventions that have the greatest chances of helping someone stop smoking. She talks about how this study could also be applied to help those with substance abuse problems or other disorders. This helps the audience to see her solution as the ideal way to approach the future.

her facial expressions do not convey excitement about her ideas

I think that Collins could have improved this talk by working on her delivery. For most of the speech her face was impassive, and, although she spoke passionate words, her vocal inflection did not reflect passion. She also shifted awkwardly on the stage as she spoke, and this left the impression that she felt uncomfortable. She also had no visual aids. I feel that some graphs depicting the smoking trends in America, or even a picture of an early NASA prototype would have helped the audience have a clearer understanding of the message. Improving the nonverbal aspects of her speech would help Collins become a more effective speaker and share her message easily.

This applies to my service learning organization because Kentucky Center for Smoke-Free policy routinely works on clinical studies to help people quit smoking. Many of Collins' ideas would be helpful for them to utilize as they work towards a smoke-free tomorrow. If you would like to learn more, you can visit the Kentucky Center for Smoke-Free Policy here.

Smoking Deconstructed Ted Talk

James Monsees is the CEO and co founder of the tobacco company, Ploom. He stated in the beginning of the speech that he loves smoking. His company works to redesign the smoking stigma. He has developed many consumer products for the past twelve years. He is an entrepreneur who graduated from Stanford University.

Overall, this speech was boring, and he was very monotone the entire time. He had no emotion or power behind the facts that he was just spitting out of his mouth. I have to give him credit because he seemed to know a lot of information on smoking and how people have a certain stigma about it. He was very professional and made great eye contact with the audience. He did not have images and facts on the screen behind him which did not help the presentation because the audience was probably falling asleep during it. He definitely needed to incorporate images or powerful facts on the screen to capture the audience's attention. He also did not really use any nonverbal communication to fully engage the audience. He just stood there and spoke the entire time, about how "smoking tobacco is a prestigious social behavior." During the Ted Talk, James could have improved with his tone by changing the pitch of his voice to emphasize the importance of certain facts or points during his speech. I also felt that he needed to be more loose and relaxed. It seemed like everything he stated was very rehearsed/memorized and just stated a bunch of facts (some were basic common knowledge that everyone already knows about smoking).
The name of this Ted Talk was "Smoking Deconstructed". This is basically what he was talking about the entire time. He was breaking down the act of smoking and its effects on people. Everyone already knows that smoking is bad for you, and people should not smoke. James stated facts that reached people; he stated that over a billion people smoke everyday, and that smoking is responsible for 5 million deaths per year. However, he states positive facts that focuses on the consumer and not smoking itself. He states that on one side of the spectrum it connects us to the past and on the other it is very dangerous.Tobacco companies and pharmaceutical companies are trying to innovate smoking (patch, nicotine gum). These focus more on the consumer staying abstinent from it, instead of what smoking does.This Ted Talk was directly related to my service learning organization because Kentucky Smoke Free is all about preventing people from starting to smoke and helping those who are already smoking, to quit.

Hey so I did a reflection video! Im going to go ahead and post the video that I am commenting on below.  In case you're extra curious about the health cost, and emotional costs associated with smoking. Enjoy!

Ted Talk Analysis - Smoking Deconstructed

The Ted Talk I observed was titled “Smoking Deconstructed” by James Monsees. The speaker is a graduate of Stanford University and the CEO of PAX labs, a company that produces premium vaporizers. The speaker, at Brussels in 2013, attempted to deconstruct the stigma against smoking, providing historical examples in the process. He seemed be vying for the then upcoming changes in the tobacco industry, namely vaporizers and electronic cigarettes. As my service learning organization is Kentucky Smoke Free Policy, I thought the Ted Talk was an obvious and relatable choice.

James Monsees at his talk in Brussels

The audience knew the general information about smoking – that a lot of people do it, despite the known, hazardous health effects. The audience then expected the speaker to provide more specific insight such as statistics, and perhaps even the human psychology behind smoking. I expected, more or less, the same things as the audience.

In my opinion, the speaker had some good examples and support. He definitely knew what he was talking about; for example, he cited the CDC to provide some startling statistics about smoking. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths, it accounts for 1 in 5 deaths in the U.S. each year, and people who smoke on average live 10 years less than others. He also brought up some good points about the positives associated with smoking - how it looks cool, even elegant – and provided historical figures such as Marilyn Monroe and James Deen who through smoking, “exuded personality”.  

Overall, the Ted Talk was quite lackluster. First, I have to mention how dull, dry, and monotone the speaker’s delivery was. He basically used the same tone for the duration of the 18 minutes, creating this very unappealing performance. The most important thing about his lack of tone variance was that he seemed dispassionate. While he certainly seemed to be an authority on the talk he was giving (based on some examples), he didn’t know how to effectively deliver his knowledge to inspire the audience. He also did not have a single visual example, which might have helped to make his presentation more interesting. Perhaps most critically, he started looking at his notecard towards the end. This severely lowered his credibility, as he didn’t seem fully prepared.

From 15:05~15:20, the speaker has some awkard pauses

In terms of content, the speaker could have had better organization and clarity. At one point, he starts talking about this one experiment conducted in the 1970s by Bruce Alexander. He then continues to elaborate on the specifics of the experiment conducted on rats for several minutes. The problem was that while he did explain how the experiment was related to his topic, it was done only in a very loose manner. He didn’t quite elaborate fully on how the example he provided was actually relevant to the act of smoking. Also, he seemed to jump around with his points, not proceeding in a logical and cohesive manner. Right after the experiment example, he suddenly started talking about his past experiences, without really transitioning properly. This lack of clear organization further made the presentation as a whole quite boring. If he could have presented in a more engaging and clear manner, the talk would have been many times more effective. 

TED Talk Reflection

The TED Talk I watched was entitled Smoking.  This talk was given in Toledo, Ohio, in September 2014 by Jonathan Ross, MD.  In his TED Talk, Jonathan speaks about the dangers of smoking and what it is costing the American public, both smokers and non-smokers.  He then proposes solutions to end smoking, thus making America better and safer.  This topic relates very closely to my service learning organization, Kentucky Center for Smoke-Free Policy, in that both Jonathan and KCSP are working to build smoke-free communities across America.

A very compelling visual aid used in Jonathan's talk

In the beginning of his talk, the audience knew the basic facts that most everyone knows about smoking: it causes death, cancer, and other health related problems.  However, I do not believe many, if any, of the audience members knew much about the actual cost of smoking and how to prevent and decrease smoking in America.  The audience was expecting to hear about the dangerous health effects that smoking causes and why they are terrible.  They may have also assumed that Jonathan would propose solutions to these problems, just not the solutions he actually proposed.  For myself, I can say that I expected Jonathan to use smoking to unveil a new medical breakthrough, seeing as he is a doctor.  I certainly did not expect his talk to be focused around marketing strategies and the economical impact smoking has in our society.

Throughout his talk, Jonathan did a great job with presenting his topic.  He did not use note cards and his visual aids were interesting and effective, while not distracting from the meat of the presentation.  His visual aids included statistics and bullet points, multimedia depictions, and his key ideas for solving the smoking dilemma.  He also included personal stories of how smoking has affected his life through the people he cares about.  His use of pathos draws the audience in and makes them draw connections to their own lives and situations.  Another aspect Jonathan did well with was the idea of relating the dangers of smoking to people’s own values.  Instead of always relating the detrimental effects of smoking to health, you may relate them to appearance or money.  In fact, he pointed out that America is losing a great deal of money on smokers due to increased cost of healthcare, work absences, illnesses, etc.  In the beginning of his, Jonathan proposes two main solutions to ending smoking: make expert counseling and medications free and prevent the start of smoking.  Throughout the middle he proposes ways to achieve these by present statistical facts.  By the end of his presentation, he reiterates his proposed solutions and shows how these can build a better tomorrow.

Even non-smoking Americans are paying for smokers

 Although Jonathan gave a very compelling talk, there was still area for improvement.  Throughout his talk, he seemed to maintain the same level of emotion.  While this is good in some cases, I felt that his speech needed more passion and more excitement.  Additionally, Jonathon only makes a few brief personal references to his wife’s parents and the fatal result smoking had on their lives.  While this may induce empathy and gives that audience real examples of the harmful effects of smoking, it would have helped his speech to have given more in-depth stories that related to the topic.  Nevertheless, Jonathan’s speech proved to be very interesting and offered some new ideas and visions for our world today.

More Reflections on KCSP

Since my last blog post not much has changed.  However, we have received some information regarding the content of the social media messages we will be expected to create.  This is a very exciting step, and because November is Lung Cancer Awareness month I know there will be a great deal of involvement with KCSP and much to look forward to throughout the month.

Smoke-free? Or maybe not

Is the University of Kentucky truly smoke-free? I don't think so. Laws in dusty books that cannot be enforced do very little to change anything practically. I feel that the only way to truly achieve a smoke-free tomorrow is to work together as a community to change the way we view smoking and value the our lives and the lives of those around us. 

I finally figured out how to fix my issues with uploading my video! Enjoy everyone! Comment if you have any questions.

Video Reflection

Not much has changed since the previous reflection, but here goes. I am just waiting until Monica contacts the group regarding more volunteering opportunities.

My first experience with Kentucky smoke free

My first experience with the organization was tedious and did not have anything to do with the actual service learning organization. That being said, I understand that the organization is in the process of moving to a new location, therefore all the boring office work has to be taken care of in order for them to have a successful transition to a new place. Ms. Monica Mundy asked everyone in our group to scan piles upon piles of papers. I was sitting in a chair, scanning papers for two hours, and constantly having to get up because the printer would get jammed every two seconds (it felt like). There was a lot of repetitiveness, and I did get aggravated because of the amount of papers that had to be scanned, but mostly because scanning papers has nothing to do with the smoke free topic that this organization focuses on. Overall, my first experience with the organization seemed pointless to me because it did not feel like I was doing anything of value to help society and the community as a whole. In summary, I picked up piles of paper, sorted through them, removed staples to make sure they didn't go through the printer, and then scanned them to Monica's email so she could peruse through what was necessary to keep versus what should be trashed.

 A printer room that depicts where I was sitting to scan papers to Monica's email

Even though my first experience did not specifically relate to a smoke-free campus, it had to get done in order for the organization to launch campaigns, and move to a better space to be better inform students about the harms involved with smoking. Monica informed the group that the bulk of the campaigning and volunteering would be done in November; November is Lung Cancer Awareness month, which is one of the main effects of smoking. As with any growth of an association, they all have to go through the laborious process in order to do more fun and interesting activities. Some of the upcoming activities that were brought to my attention were tabling to students so they have the opportunity to receive extra information regarding smoking, and participating in social media campaigns. Both of these actions can reach out to thousands of people, and hopefully persuade people to think twice before sticking a cigarette in their mouths.

Just an example of a campaign that can speak to people 

Kentucky Smoke Free, The First Experience

To be honest, all the member in my group, myself included, have not had any actual, relevant service experience with Kentucky Smoke Free Policy. We were told by Monica that the majority of the service learning would take place in November with their initiative.

UK College of Nursing, where volunteering took place

Frankly speaking, the most interaction I have had with the organization is limited to scanning their documents. When I first went in to volunteer, I was expecting to lend some assistance to some more important tasks at hand, but I was quite disappointed that I was left to do was essentially busy work. Quite literally, I scanned hundreds of sheets of documents and newspapers within the time span of the two hours that I was there. Aside from the fact that I was somewhat annoyed with having to do non-essential work, the scanning itself provided many frustrations. If some of the papers were stapled together and I didn't know, the printer would jam while trying to scan, making me incredibly frustrated at times. The repetitiveness of the work that I had to do did not alleviate matters either. It was incredibly boring to be doing the same motion of taking papers and loading them for two whole hours. While I do realize that the work I was doing benefited the organization with their moving process, it was honestly hard to care about it. I did the work that I was asked of in a diligent manner, but I did not really enjoy a single minute of it.

The piles and piles of documents that were scanned

With that said, I certainly hope that the experience in November will be much better. I want to get into the actual important things, not the minutia. I agree with the organization's ideals and initiatives - I would just like to have the opportunity to contribute in a meaningful way. I hope that what is to come will allow me to do just that.

Signature symbol and acronym for the Kentucky Center for Smoke Free Policy

For the past month the Kentucky Center for Smoke free Policy has been in a shuffle. Everyone is buzzing about the upcoming move at the end of this month and beginning of next month. What this new location will mean for the organization, is more space to work, and a new beginning for the mission that they started years ago.
If you were to go to their website you can read about some interesting findings that the teams at the center have been finding. For example, the team [Ellen J. Hahn (principal investigator), Kiyoung Lee (Faculty Associate/Environmental Scientist), Heather Roberston (Program Administrator), and Amanda Bucher (Data Coordinator)] handling the monitoring of air quality found that some "workers and patrons in Greenup County were exposed to indoor air pollution levels approx. 2.3 times the National ambient Air Quality Standard for outdoor air, " (Bucher, Hahn, Lee, & Robertson, 2015). This just shows how people can be working under hazardous conditions without even realizing that their lives are at risk. When looking at this data, keep in mind, that it is legal to smoke out doors, and thusly it is responsible to assume that the levels of toxins outdoors will be high; there is no reason that the toxins found inside of buildings should exceed that of the conjoint outside, its also important to recall that smoking indoors is illegal. So then how is this even possible? These are the questions that the teams investigate over that the center- and this is the fundamental importance of KCSP, not only for the community of Lexington, but to the state as a whole; Kentucky.

Banner that the KCSP used to campaign 2nd hand smoke

Now while people over at KCSP have been busy working on the collection and analysis of data I myself have been helping the great cause. Perhaps not on the same level, but... I have more or less done some good. For two hours I went and scanned and sorted important documentation. The move, as mentioned earlier, has been using quite a bit of man power, something that is hard to have in a place that is constantly bustling with the prospects of a better tomorrow. Time is scarce, needless to say, and every moment counts. This is why, even though it wasn't as glamorous as some other jobs, I feel my time was well spent. I know how helpful an extra pair of hands can be sometimes and I could definitely tell every second I spent helping, was greatly appreciated. The copier did jam, every three or four papers, but I can't complain; I know that while I took over the coping job, someone else was able to go and analyze or collect new information that will probably be beneficial to my health and the health of others in the future.
I am excited to say that in the up coming month, November to some, or Lung Cancer Awareness month to KCSP, I will be having a more hands on experience. We will be tending to tables and booths set up around campus. Here we will passing out pamphlets and brochure on some of the dangers of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd hand smoke. Things that most people won't know about and information that will hopefully change the life or lives of college student(s). Aside from the booth, we also have some interesting assignments to follow up on their social media campaigns. Hopefully I'll get to tweet some interesting facts out about some new discoveries that the teams have been finding.

First KCSP Service Experiences

So far, I have hardly completed any service at my agency, the Kentucky Center for Smoke-Free Policy.  They are currently in the process of moving to a new location which has caused lots of stress and anxiety within the organization and not much focus has been put on promoting smoke-free policy, at least for the time being.  For now, the main focus of KCSP is scanning all their files and moving them to digital copies.  These files mainly include important documents, samples of media used to promote smoke-free policy, etc.  They help to mark their progress throughout the years and prove how successful KCSP has been throughout Kentucky.

Just one of the many newspaper articles proving KCSP’s effectiveness in its community over the years.

Because of this shift in focus, my first service experience was regretfully uneventful.  I spent the entirety of three hours on a Tuesday morning coping stacks on stacks of documents.  Inevitably, almost every stack I would put in the machine to scan would get jammed somewhere along the line and I would have to figure out some way to get the paper out.  Whether there were still staples in the packets or a small article couldn’t make it through all the way or a paper just went through the wrong way, there were issues constantly.  This made a fairly simple process rather frustrating, especially since I felt like my job was somewhat meaningless.  However, after the gratitude I received when leaving I am certain that I was of service to people who genuinely needed my help.  Going forward I know that even the smallest of help can have a large impact.  Once KCSP is moved to their new location, I am certain I will have more opportunities to serve the agency and the community in the way I had initially expected.

An example of the types of social media campaigns my group members and I will help to produce to promote the Kentucky Center for Smoke-Free Policy.

In the upcoming month, I am expecting to have many more service opportunities than were presented in October.  My group’s service coordinator has already informed us about some tabling events we will have the opportunity to be a part of throughout November.  Since November is National COPD Awareness month my group members and I will be at tables around campus passing out information about anti-smoking policies and the dangers of smoking.  Additionally, we will be creating social media campaigns to promote smoke-free policy all over Kentucky.  Between the two of these opportunities, I believe November will prove to be an extremely busy month and I will feel much more satisfaction about the work I did with my service agency.