final imrad

Smoking on Campus- University of Louisville

Should smoking on campus be punishable?

 

Abstract

“Should smoking on campus be punishable?” Is an important question to ask due to the amount of harm smoking can cause non-smokers and effects it could have on campus life. Most students that attend a university are in their early stages of adulthood, therefore their health is important. For this research a survey was created that asked six multiple choice questions, the survey was then sent out in a link to classmates and others that I knew lived on campus. Total responses numbered to 30, 20 females and 10 males responded. The results that were found indicated that more women than men thought that smoking on campus should be a punishable act. Also, the results shown that the smokers disagreed while the non-smokers agreed on punishment. The findings also changed the perspective upon the study, in the sense that began to acknowledge that smokers and non-smokers and men and women would have bias opinions and answers. What changed due to the findings would be that making on campus could be seen as both a punishable and non-punishable act, it all just depended on the person and how extreme the offense would be.

 

Introduction

Smoking has always been a problem in the state of Kentucky. In 2009, the University of Louisville became a smoke-free campus. “It seems very consistent with the university’s mission that we would be making strong statement that since we know that 80% of lung cancers are caused by either smoking directly or second-hand smoke that we would come out very strongly and say this is not something we think is good for people.” This quote relates due to the health hazard that Uofl saw with letting students smoke freely on campus, so they made a change. Smoking is not only an effect on the person that is smoking but also an effect on the people who are around the smoker. Most research or information that could be found on this topic of Uofl’s smoke-free campus focus on how the campus being smoke-free does not really make a difference. “For the smoke-free campaign to have a full and positive effect, U of L needs to take a proactive, rather than passive, approach to ending the smoking on campus — smokers should be fined if they are caught lighting up on campus” (Michelle Eigenheer) this quote acknowledges that some students have also acknowledge the lack of consequence for smoking in a smoke-free zone. The question is what is the punishment for smoking on campus? Uofl declared itself to be smoke-free and banned it from the campus, but there were no punishment for not following the rules. The point of this research was to get a better understanding to what the student body thinks of smoke-free policies not being properly enforced.

 

Method

Participants:

20 women and 10 men participated in this survey. The survey was created on SurveyMonkey.com and then sent to classmates and other pupils of the student body that attend the University of Louisville.

The survey results were checked periodically through a couple of days and the numbers only increased, then the numbers began to show and were written down to see if there were any correlations between questions.

 

Results

Table one acknowledges more women than men agree that smoking on campus should be a punishable act.

Table One: Punishable or Not?

Punishable?	Not Punishable?
Men:1 Women:13	Men:9 Women:7

Table Two: Smoker or Non-Smoker? Table two represents how the research found that non-smokers outnumbered smokers, and that most of the women were non-smokers. Most of those women also agreed that smoking on campus deserves some sort of consequence.

Smoker?	Non-Smoker?
Men:5	Men:5
Women:6	Women:14

 

Table Three: Did you know? Table three recognizes the difference in sex that was knowledgeable of Uofl being a smoke free campus. Also, the amount of smoker/non that were aware of this policy.

Aware of smoke-free campus policy
Male:6	Female:15
Smoker:7	Non-smoker:19

 

 

Discussion

The most important part of this study is the amount of people that believe that smoking on campus should be a punishable act. For example, maybe giving a fine to those seen smoking a campus, many lives could sheltered from the health problems that second-hand smoke causes. This example could possible make many improvements in the lives of those students who live on The University of Louisville’s campus. The problem with this study is that the study honestly depended on what the participants felt about smoking and what they knew of the effects of second hand smoking. A more effective way to get better results would have been submitting the survey with background information written first. The study showed the many bias opinions and also acknowledged the opinions very similar opinions of men/women and smokers/non-smokers.

 

final reflection

Ciarra Cook

English 102-59

Instructor Hem Paudel

22 April 2015

Final Reflection

Question one: What did you learn from this course? List at least three things and explain.

            This semester was my second semester in college and I expected English 102 to be much more difficult than English 101, but it all honesty 101 gave you everything you would need to get through 102. I learned from this course many different things. The first thing that stood out the most to me would be how to correctly write an IMRaD. I’ll be honest, I have never even heard of that before this class. Looking at the examples scared me because it just seemed so complicated. The second thing I learned from English 102 was learning about the purpose of writings. An example was in our first essay was how writing in our field of interest effected something, well now I see it as every piece of writing is for something else. Either to entertain, let readers be aware, a grade, etc. The third thing I learned for this course that stuck out to me would be the importance of your information in a research paper. In my research paper it took me forever to find actual good information that I felt helped form my essay into a better piece of work.

Question Two: What aspects of this course helped you learn?

My favorite thing about this class that helped me learn was definitely the conferences. I feel like most people usually need one on one to fully understand what should be done or what they could do better.  I am one of those people, therefore being able to come to the conference and speak to you about my paper and get your opinion really gave me a better view. Also, I feel like the group discussions were very helpful. Being able to hear others opinions as well as having others hear yours is always beneficial in being able to recognize and remember something easier.

Question Three: What aspects of this course were less successful in helping you learn? How might this course be improved?

            Readings are always not as helpful. I feel like when you are having a class reading that you aren’t reading it to learn from it, you are reading it because it was assigned so then it turns to homework which is always not as interesting. I would recommend modern videos about the subject being learned about. Maybe something to start out with to get everyone’s attention and entertain at the beginning of the class so that everyone is fully interested afterwards.

Question Four: Reflect on your own performance and contributions to this class.

            Honestly, English has always been one of my favorite subjects and has always been one of the classes I really loved being in. I am very disappointed with my work in this class because I felt like my papers weren’t what they could have been and that I should have done a lot better. I enjoy writing and I love being able to learn about a topic then write about it, therefore I am upset with myself for not taking more time for it. I did learn a lot about the class and if I get the chance to take it again and take more time to do everything better then I will take the opportunity to do so.

Question Five: Which major assignment did you find most useful and why?

            I found that our first major assignment was most useful. The first assignment was just more fun to write about because it was about what I was interested in (nursing). Therefore I wasn’t just writing a paper for my English class, I was writing a paper and learning more about my future career.

 

Question Six: Which major assignment or which aspect was most challenging and why?

            It would have to be a tie between the IMRaD and the research paper for me. The IMRaD was easy but then hard because it was very difficult not to put your own input into it and I was constantly overthinking everything about it. And then there was the research paper, which was difficult because organizing all the data I found then trying to find data that wasn’t just a repeat of the data before to put into my paper was difficult. I wanted to make sure everything I found was accurate and up to date and of course everything on the internet is mixed in, so you really had to sort through everything to actually find a good article to back your thesis up.

Question Seven: What did you think about the conferences? How helpful were they? How do you think we can make them even more helpful? If you did not find them useful, why? Explain suggestions to make them better..

            I think the conferences were a great idea. Like I said before most people need one on one to better understand most things. I felt as if they really helped me a lot to better understand how to make my paper better. I cannot think of any other way to make them anymore helpful, but I think they were a great idea. I just wish we didn’t have those snow days so that we could have had conferences for the research paper.

IMRaD

Smoking on Campus- University of Louisville

Should smoking on campus be punishable?

 

Abstract

“Should smoking on campus be punishable?” Is an important question to ask due to the amount of harm smoking can cause non-smokers and effects it could have on campus life. For this research I created a survey that asked six multiple choice questions and sent the link to the website to classmates and others that I knew on campus. Total responses numbered to 30 and from the results that were found indicated that more women than men thought that smoking on campus should be a punishable act. Also, the results shown that the smokers disagreed while the non-smokers agreed on punishment. The findings also changed the perspective upon the study, in the sense that I began to acknowledge that smokers and non-smokers and men and women would have bias opinions and answers.  

 

Introduction

“It seems very consistent with the university’s mission that we would be making strong statement that since we know that 80% of lung cancers are caused by either smoking directly or second-hand smoke that we would come out very strongly and say this is not something we think is good for people.” Smoking is not only an effect on the person that is smoking but also an effect on the people who are around the smoker. As a University with underage students that attend classes and live on campus day-to-day, under- age drinking is widely acknowledged as a punishable act due to the amount of danger it can put in one’s life, therefore smoking on campus can be seen to cause just as much damage, if not more than alcohol. Although, it is known that the legal age to purchase cigarettes is three years lower than the age to purchase alcohol, they both give individual medical issues.

 

Method

Participants:

20 women and 10 men participated in this survey. The survey was created on SurveyMonkey.com and then sent to classmates and other pupils of the student body that attend the University of Louisville.

The survey results were checked periodically through a couple of days and the numbers only increased Then, the numbers began to show and then were written down to see if there were any correlations between questions.

 

Results

Table one acknowledges more women than agree that smoking on campus should be a punishable act. Also, table one shows that it is probable that non-smokers agree to have a real smoke-free campus due to them being non-smokers. On the other hand, smokers would not want to be punished for smoking because it is their choice to do so.

 

Gender	Smoker	Non-Smoker	Aware of Smoke Free Campus	Punishable?
Female	6	14	15	YES: 13 NO:7
Male	5	5	6	YES: 1   NO:9

 

Discussion

The most important part of this study is the amount of people that believe that smoking on campus should be a punishable act. For example, maybe giving a fine to those seen smoking a campus, many lives could sheltered from the health problems that second-hand smoke causes. This example could possible make many improvements in the lives of those students who live on The University of Louisville’s campus. The problem with this study is that the study honestly depended on what the participants felt about smoking and what they knew of the effects of second hand smoking. A more effective way to get better results would have been submitting the survey with background information written first. The study showed the many bias opinions and also acknowledged the opinions very similar opinions of men/women and smokers/non-smokers.

Assignment Two- Research Paper

Ciarra Cook

Instructor Hem Paudel

English 102

2 March 2015

Killing Kentucky Slowly: Smoking and Tobacco Usage

Kentucky is a tobacco producing state with higher than average individuals that smoke. Standing in first place, Kentucky is on top with having 26.5% adults that admit to being smokers. (Govt. Official Website) The use of tobacco for cigarettes is not only Kentucky’s issue, but a nationwide problem.  Being addicted to nicotine has become a major epidemic and many people have come together in order to decrease production sales and increase the lives saved by doing so. The last four years Government Officials in Kentucky have been attempting to lower these high smoking rates. Smoking rates have hurt Kentucky on two main levels, economically and health wise. The citizens in Kentucky are either smoking and hurting their own bodies or smoking and using secondhand smoke to hurt other individual’s bodies. Banning the usage of cigarettes in public places and minimizing it as a whole would save the state money in health care and would also save many lives.

            The state of Kentucky has always had a higher rate of adults that smoke due to the easier access from tobacco producing farms that have been located in Kentucky. Another reason behind the higher percentages includes the fact that Kentucky is one of three states who has previously had no type of state wide bans on smoking in public places. As society continues to acknowledge that effects of smoking, Kentucky is being pressured into changing its sociological ways into healthier living. Kentucky may be one of the last on the train to banning smoking, but they are starting towards that better direction.

According to Wave3 News, there has been five known attempts to ban the usage of smoking in public places, but all have failed so far. Kentucky still remains to be one of three states that does not have a state wide ban on smoking in public places, restaurants, and other places of business. Bill 145, the Smoke-free Kentucky bill, would ban smoking in all of these places and would finally put Kentucky in the running with other states in becoming a healthier province. “It’s time to protect our children and our coworkers from exposure.” Said Gov. Steve Beashear while making his statement to lawmakers. The Governor of Kentucky recognizes the health risk they are continuing to allow to today’s youth and shows his full support in banning smoking in public areas. Also, Gov. Beshear claims that more than half of the adults in Kentucky are already in agreement with such a law as Bill 145. Saying a recent survey has showed that 66% of Kentuckians favor the law. This supports the claim that the citizens of Kentucky are moving towards a healthier direction and the future looks to have less tobacco in it.

The Kentucky Hospital Association has been hopeful over the years in Kentucky lawmakers to make a change for the well-being of the citizens in Kentucky.

“Kentucky hospitals have treated illnesses like asthma and heart disease as a result of secondhand smoke exposure for too long, only to send patients back out to the very job conditions where they are getting sick, Secondhand smoke exposure-related illnesses are completely preventable by simply asking smokers to step outside.” (KHA President, Michael Rust)

According to the Kentucky Hospital Association, Kentucky has 46% higher than the national average of people who die from lung cancer. And nearly 1,000 people in Kentucky alone will die from second hand smoke. On the economic side, smoking cost Kentucky $1.92 Billion in healthcare costs alone, “It also costs Kentucky $2.3 billion in lost productivity. Secondhand smoke exposures cost Kentucky an estimated $106 million in health care cost. Kentucky can no longer afford to shoulder these costs.” (Michael Rust, 2014) This not only supports the health problems smoking causes Kentucky, but also shows how much it costs Kentucky on an economic level.

            In the past ten years smoking percentages in Kentucky have dropped nearly ten percent. 2.5% of that percentage is just from the past two years. That narrows it down to Kentucky losing one percent of smokers a year. This data found from the Kentucky Annual State Health Ranking accurately provided the view of the path Kentucky is going down towards a healthier future without smoking.

            In 2003 Lexington, Kentucky, decided to make a change. The city within Kentucky’s state lines that once prided itself in being one of the world’s largest tobacco filled cities, passed a piece of legislation that put the smokers outside! A vote 11-3 that denied smokers access to smoke inside of public places. Ironically, this became Kentucky’s first ban of smoking.

            In 2004 when the bill became in effect, the results were astonishing. Lexington’s smoking rate dropped from 26.6 to 17.6 and hospitals dropped 22% when it came to ER patients coming in due to asthma problems from smoking. Health care also saved $22 million in that one year. (University of Kentucky Research) “We predict a 32% decline in smoking rates if Kentucky were to go smoke-free. That would save billions in healthcare costs and reduce premature death and suffering from chronic disease that plague Kentucky.” This was said by Ellen Hahn, a nursing Professor at the University of Kentucky. Once again, larger cities begin to establish a goal of minimizing smoking and saw only positive outcomes from doing so such as: increase in health and decrease in costs.

           

            Not only does Kentucky have a background with tobacco which gives them a higher advantage of being able to smoke, but it also has the 12^th lowest rate of tax on cigarettes. If Kentucky lawmakers were to raise tax on cigarettes it would greatly impact the health on individuals that live in Kentucky. Kentucky is now nationally first in mortality cancer. Dr. Mark Evers, heard of University of Kentucky Cancer Center, believes that banning smoking in public places and increasing the tax would cut the cancer rates by nearly 50%. “Both of these agenda items would definitely increase Kentucky health.” (Evers) This relates by adding a health professionals opinion on how making changes would decrease cancer rates in Kentucky.   

            As of right now, 24 communities in Kentucky has passed smoke-free policies that cover work places and enclosed public places. These 24 communities make up 32.5% that is protected, while 67.5% is still unprotected. This 67.5% makes Kentucky to be 44^th in life expectancy, 43^rd in heart disease deaths, and 50^th in lung disease deaths. Smoke-Free Kentucky states that once the number of smoke-free communities increase than the number of deaths should decrease.

            Secondhand smoke causes more frequent respiratory affections and more asthma attacks in children. It has also been found that employees working in the bar or restaurant business have higher averages of developing lung disease or asthma due to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke immediately affects the cardiovascular system and can cause coronary heart disease and strokes in individuals. Researchers found that citizens who are around smoke at home or at place of work have a more likely chance of developing heart disease at an earlier age.  (Smoke-Free Kentucky) This information founded from the Smoke-Free Kentucky website has established valid research to provide ways smoking not only harms the smoker, but harms the innocent people around the smoker.

            On Friday, February 15^th, 2015, Kentucky lawmakers voted to ban smoking in public places. The bill passed with a vote at 51-46, the Democratic Party supporting it the most. The state Rep. Susan Westrom, the sponsor of this bill, stated that secondhand smoke kills 950 people that live in Kentucky each year and that passing this bill 145 just gave Kentucky a greater chance at a healthier future. (Courier Journal)

            In conclusion, all of the research found has only established that minimizing the amount of smoking allowed leads toward healthier and longer lived lives. Also, saves the state of Kentucky cost from health insurance and productivity. Statistics prove that cities within Kentucky, such as Lexington, have tried these bans and have greatly concluded not only better health outcomes, but being more economically efficient. The state of Kentucky that has come from a past that has revolved around the cash crop of tobacco is now heading toward a brighter future with less cigarettes.

 

           

           

           

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

"2015 Looks Promising for a Kentucky Statewide Smoking Ban." 893 WFPL. N.p., 18 Dec. 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.

"In State With Tobacco Ties, Kentucky House OKs Smoking Ban." The New York Times. The New York Times, 13 Feb. 2015. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.

"Kentucky Annual State Health Rankings." America's Health Rankings. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.

"Lexington, KY Local and State News by the Lexington Herald-Leader | Kentucky.com." Lexington, KY Local and State News by the Lexington Herald-Leader | Kentucky.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.

N.p., n.d. Web.

"Raising Cigarette Tax, Passing Statewide Smoking Ban Would Benefit Kentucky, Doctor Says." The River City News. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.

"Smoke-Free Kentucky |." SmokeFree Kentucky RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.

"Statewide Smoking Ban Sought Again by Hospital Association." The River City News. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2015.

"The United States of Smoking: The State with the Most Tobacco Farms Smokes Most Often." Washington Post. The Washington Post, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.

Assignment One

 

Ciarra Cook

Instructor Hem Paudel

English 102-59

2 February 2015

Effective Writing in Nursing

            My name is Ciarra Cook and I am interest in the Science of Nursing. I am currently a freshmen at the University of Louisville, studying to become a Registered Nurse. Nursing has always been a very beneficial field of study that helps society as a whole. The usage of writing effects the everyday career lifestyle of a nurse, an example would be collecting data from patients to provide availability for a Doctor to determine a diagnosis in a timelier manner. Also, without knowing correct usage of words and vocabulary, many of duties done by nurses could be done incorrectly, this could lead to law suits or even end up terminal for a patient. After research the effective writings of nursing and interviewing nurses I conducted that without writing a nurses job could not be done correctly and could cause harm to numerous people and cause bad situations. I chose interest in this subject because as a nursing student I am interested in the types of writing of should be preparing myself for in the near future.

Although most essay-like writing in nursing is mostly found in their years of being a student, nurses have to write appropriately and correctly in their work life in order to successfully establish correct ways of treating patients. In, The Importance of Good Writing Skills in the Field of Nursing, Leyla Norman states, “Clear written communication is vital for the care of as well as for research and staff supervision.” This relates to my argument because what she has said directly supports my belief that writing in the Science of Nursing has a massive effect on a patient’s outcome. Secondly, many nurses have a leadership role in being in administration. Many head nurses has plenty of paperwork to feel out and must be very aware of how to correctly fill out patient’s form and getting them the care they need.

             The Science of Nursing starts out just as any other field, with basic college classes that builds an individual’s skills to think and write effectively. In the Nursing program at the University of Louisville, for instance, you must to take a certain amount of classes, and then before you apply to the upper level of nursing you must write a grammatically correct paper on why you want to be a nurse. This paper is a big part of why nursing students must practice on their writing skills so that they may develop a one of a kind paper that could determine their future. Also, the purpose of taking to writing classes while being in lower level of nursing is also to prepare an individual to correctly fill out sheets for hospital and being able to document about a clinical.

A big part of the nursing program is to be able to write about clinical situations. One Example of this is in my anatomy lab class where we have to read patient connection articles about clinical situations and findings. We then have to answer questions that are related to the article content, so I have learned to change my writing style to include more medical terms when I am writing about various nursing topics. (Rachel Prater)

Rachel’s answer relates supports my argument because not only does writing effectively increases her medical terminology, but also strengthens her usage of them in forms of writing for clinical. I then asked Rachel on her opinion if she believes that writing correctly can help her become a better nurse in the future. “I definitely feel like writing correctly can allow me to become a better nurse in the future.” Said Rachel Prater. This quote that was said by Rachel gives me the inside thoughts of a upper level and supports the outlook that correct writing can make an individual better at their job. Misunderstandings or words or spelling of words can lead to lethal results or cause a patient much harm.

            I am a CGA (care giver assistant) at The Kidz Club, which is a daycare for kids with disabilities of many kinds. I work with many nurses who in fact do plenty of writing on a daily basis. There are many forms that need to be filled out on a regular and timed basis so that each child is taken care of properly. When a child first arrives, their temperatures and O2 levels are taken and written down. Each child is thoroughly assessed for any types of bruises, scratches, rashes, etc. Everything that is seen is documented and filed so that if the parent is in need for any information it is all in their child’s folder. Each child at The Kidz Club is on some sort of medicine, and each day the nurse in charge of the room uses their time to go through each kid one by one and give that certain child their medication and then the nurse writes down the times that it was given and correct dosages. Also, at meal times, whatever percentage of food a child eats while being at the Kidz Club is written down on sheets so that the correct nutrition is given to those who have certain dietary needs. Nurses at TKC also have to feel out incident reports if a child has an accident. Lastly, TKC is all about growth and development for these children, many of the children there are given weekly goals, these goals are determined to be succeeded with the help of the nurses, and when that child comes to or actually reaching their goals, then it is documented by the nurses. “The way we use writing here at the Kidz Club is for correct documentation, if not clear written information there could be miss interpretations by a child’s physician and physical therapist which could lead towards incorrectly provide medical treatment for a child.” Miss Cindy at the Kidz Club has this to say when I had asked her on how writing affects her career. This relates due to the example of provide wrong documentation to a child’s doctor, which could end very badly, not only for the child, but also for the one who had provided the wrong information.

            In conclusion, I have looked at many different parts of a nurse’s written work and have only come to conclude that nurses who can write correctly can cause better outcomes in a patience life and avoid bad outcomes such as lawsuits and injuring a patient. Writing effectively can help a nurse with their medical terminology and can also help their career. Filling out assessments, paperwork, medication logs, etc can help a patient to a faster recovery! Secondly, a nurse’s written work can also expand into providing newly found research for a patient or a physician. Lastly, nurses use formal medical terminology when writing in order to correctly provide a doctor with correct information about a patient or even providing research logs to those who are interest in a particular medical study. And a nurse can also use informal writing to communicate with other nurses or keeping in contact with patients that they have taken care of for a long time. A nurse’s persistent usage in writing takes steps from papers to clinical logs, from basic vocab to medical terminology, and from informal to formal. As a nurse progresses through the field, so does their writing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EVERYBODY I NEED MORE RESPONSES

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8NGSLJ8

4/7/15

1. smoker or non-smoker?
2. did you know that the University of Louisville is a smoke-free campus?
- yes
-no
3. how often do you see students/staff smoking on campus?
-never
-sometimes
-all the time
4. female or male?
5. graduate or undergrad?
6. should those who smoke on campus be punished?