Letter

Dear Brittany,

I am writing you this letter to get your opinion and feedback on an issue here at UCF. I've noticed that about 2/3 of the students here are smokers. This includes them smoking on campus, and the negativity about it from non-smokers has been buzzing throughout the school. People complain about inhaling the smoke when they are on their way to class because someone on their same route is smoking next to them. There are people that smoke on benches where students are trying to relax and sit down, but are bugged by 2nd hand smoke. There are also the students that are getting addicted and experimenting because of the amount of smoking here, and they feel that they need to "fit in". This has become a serious issue here on campus.
My question to you is, based on what I just told you, what is your opinion of smoking on campus? What do you think should be done about it? I've gathered some information on campus and have found that the majority of non-smokers think that smoking around students is very inconsiderate. They think that it should either be banned or regulated. Now, it is rumored that UCF is trying to become tobacco-free, and may ban smoking as of next year. Whether or not this is going to pull through is beyond my knowledge, but I can do the research and ask the questions to find out more. I just don't understand how so many young people are smoking now-a-days. I would like to conduct more research on how smoking got started for these people, and why they are doing it. Also, I want to find out how smoking on campus has grown throughout the years percentage wise. And, I would like to know why they feel the need to smoke on campus, and if they even think about annoying others as a consequence to them doing it.
Anyway, I want you know how significant this is to me. Not only does this matter bother me, but it seems to bother so many others at UCF. It also makes me sad for the smokers because they have their whole lives ahead of them, and they are destroying it by smoking so much. They are literally killing themselves little by little every time they light up. It can be a health issue to others as well, and can cause outbreaks of future fights over needed regulations. Maybe even just by regulating things around here, it would decrease the amount of college smokers in general. Who knows? Just based on the few opinions I have, I can tell how much of a nuisance smoking on campus is. I would really value your opinion because I would like to know what someone else thinks about it, especially because you don't witness it every day. Let me know what you think. Thanks a lot!

-Sam Salerno