Smoking Survey

http://FreeOnlineSurveys.com/rendersurvey.asp?sid=joc3sdc6lzkjr06550106

Groundwork

When I first went out the the smoking area behind Lafollete, the first thing I noticed was the pick nick table. Then I noticed all of the cigarette butts laying all over the grass and surrounding area. The grass was all matted down from the masses of people that had stood on it at some point or another. There were a couple of stone, trashcan like objects around the smoking area, and as I walked up to them, I realized that they had sand in the top, and were meant for people to put their cigarette butts out in. Even though they had these things around, people still flicked the butts anywhere they wanted.

I was not that nervous or anxious about going out to the smoking area for the first time. I had one of my best friends and roommate with me, and that probably helped a lot. I knew from past times, that smokers can be some of the friendliest people to talk to, therefore, I walked out there with an open mind, and a willingness to talk to people I didn't know. I met some people that I would have never met out at the smoking area. My first experience at the smoking area, was definitely a good one.

I would say that I am still an outsider, because I do not smoke all of the time. I only smoke once in a while, and that makes me different then the people who feel like they have to have a cigarette, or find themselves outside several times a day. I do not know all of the insider language, though I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on it. There are not many ways that I am an outsider still, but I still think that I am at least a little bit. I do not know all of the smoking areas around campus like some of the smokers might, which makes me an outsider as well.

week 6...posting 6

"Do 'light' cigarettes deliver less nicotine to the brain than regular cigarettes?"UCLA 17 Oct. 2008. Lexis Nexis Academic.Bracken Library. Ball Sate University 19 Feb 2009.

This was an article done by the University of California Los Angeles. They did research and tests on 15 different people, testing whether or not light cigarettes delivered less nicotine to the brain than regular cigarettes. They found in the study that regular cigarettes delivered between 1.2 and 1.4 milligrams of nicotine to the brain, while light cigarettes delivered between .6 and 1 milligrams of nicotine. This is not the difference the cigarette companies portray to the public. Regular cigarettes affected 88 percent of your brain's nicotine receptors, while "light" cigarettes affected 79 percent of the same type of receptors, again not much of a difference.

I think this article could be used to explain as to why people smoke cigarettes, and as to why they are so addictive. It also said in the article, that when the nicotine reaches the receptors, it acts like a masking agent and makes the body release dopimine, a euphoric hormone. This is where the addiction comes from, your body is used to having it, and it can't be without it. This can be useful to help explain the addiction part of smokers.



Hicken, Melanie. "Delaware beaches weigh cigarette ban; For smokers, it's a line in the sand." The Washington Times. 8 Aug. 2007. Lexis Nexis Academic. Bracken Library., Ball State University. 19 Feb. 2009.


This article was talking about smoking bans on public beaches. This article was talking about locations in Delaware in specific, but also included locations from throughout the United States. The article said that California's beaches had been with smoking bans since 2003, and that many New England beach sites had either implemented smoking bans, or were considering it. It also said that the man reason for the bans was not public health concerns, but it was more concerned with the litter from all of the cigarette butts. It said that on one beach in California, they picked up 15,000 butts at the end of the summer, and this beach had a smoking ban.

I am not sure if this article has direct importance to my article. It is a little off topic, considering it is talking about beaches and smoking bans. At the same time though, I do like how it shows how the public is wanting smoking to be banned all across the country, and in every application. It also talks about one of the problems facing places that still allow smoking. The litter that cigarette smoking is an enormous problem, so many people smoke multiple times a day, and that creates a lot of waste. This article may play a small part in my paper, but I think it will help.

Box 18

I do not have any contradictions with my field site and my field notes that I have accumulated. The smoking area that I have researched so far, is located outside of Brayton/Clevenger halls. There is a pick nick table in the middle of it, and surrounding it on three sides are benches. All of this is new, considering they did construction on the smoking area right before winter started. They tore up what once was grass and put down these two foot by two foot concrete squares in its place. I can see why they did this, it is a lot easier to clean and maintain cement then it is grass, but the grass was nice to look at and gave it a better feel then the sea of gray cement. The one thing they did keep out there though, was this tiny tree at the far end of the smoking area. They took it out to do the construction, but the brought it back and re-transplanted it to a different spot not too far from the orignial spot.

Culture Shock

Coming to Ball State university was a huge culture shock for me. I came from a high school where I had 97 students in my graduating class. Then I moved to a college where I almost have that many people living on my floor in Clevenger. I was not used to having to walk far to class; seeing as how my school was really tiny. I was also not used to having 200 students in my class at one time, like I did in some of my lectures first semester. My classes back at my high school were more like 20 students at best. My high school back home was all white, we lived out in a relatively rural community is why I think that was, but then I come to Ball State, where there is a huge cultural diversity here. The college eating schedule was also a lot different than what I was used to at home. At high school, they tell you when to go to lunch, becuase they have special times for that, here at college it is up to you to find time. They also in high school tell you what you are going to eat, here at Ball State, they give you a wide selection of lunches.

week 5...post 5

I plan on doing a little bit of my research every day. I also plan on going to my fieldsite and observing whenever I get some free time. My interviews I plan on doing in the next week or so to get those out of the way. I am still not sure if I am going to do surveys, and if I do I will probably do that last. I do not need more research on a particular facet of my subculture, I just need more research in general. I do not need to spend more time in my fieldsite, that is something I have been doing very well on. I need to do my interviews, because I have not done them yet. In the next two weeks hopefully it stays warm, which will incline more people to come out to the smoking area. This will be the perfect time to go out and do m y surveys and take care of all of the interviews. I just simply need to go to the library and get more books and articles, I have plenty of online articles as of now. As of right now, I do not have any questions for you, but I am sure I will when I start to do my interviews.

Box 15

I remember going hunting in the fall with my grandfather. I remember getting up early in the morning, waking up to the smell of bacon, eggs, and coffee. That was the best smell to wake up to in the morning. After we got done eating breakfast, we would go outside to go hunting, and this is where I have the most memories. The smell of a crisp fall morning is something I will never forget. The look of the leaves and grass as they have a slight layer of frost on the ground, I could wake up to that every morning. The crunch of leaves under our feet as me and my grandfather went on our way hunting was always a constant reminder of the temperature outside. No matter how long I stay away from the woods as I go to college, and get a career, I will never forget the wonderful smells and sounds of waking up in the morning and going hunting with my grandfather.

Doc.: Dogtown and Z Boys

I think this is both an ethnography and has great entertainment value. It has great historical and factual background. It gives you great insight on how the sport got started and what the ear and time period was about. At the same time, it was intersting and entertaining to watch. It was not just a presentation of facts, they gave you facts, but did it in a fascinating and entertaining way. The interviews are what makes the documentary in my eyes. They were the original team of Z Boy skaters. They gave a huge amount on insight into what was going on during the time. There is no better way to present information than straight from the horses mouth so to speak. These people skated when nobody else did. They were looked at as outcasts of society and they didn't care. They were doing what they loved to do and nothing got in their way. They would build there own boards out of scrap pieces of wood and old roller skates. They made it into a following. They show clips of them skating and surfing as they interview all of the old team. I think the clips aid as a really good way to give us a visual picture as to what the interview was talking about. I did not hold any stereotypes against skaters.

Week 4...Post 4

I do not have many general conclusions about my subculture. I do however have some generalizations about my subculture, I am just not sure if they are the same thing. I have been to the field site a couple of times. I would so far conclude that the typical smoker is male, between the ages of 18 and 20, not in sports, and would probably be considered weird or different by society. What is weird and normal though who knows. I would have to say that these descriptions are probably true everywhere throughout the country accept for the age. There are obviously many smokers of all ages in the United States. Another description that might not be true is the outcast part, a lot of older people who hold quality, high position jobs smoke because when they were growing up, smoking was not looked down upon. I do not think geography plays a role in who does or does not smoke, but I do think that males are the dominant smoking gender by a vast majority. I also do not think that religion plays a role in smoking if you stay in the realm of Christianity. I do not know enough about other cultures to make assumptions about them.

Box 12

I got into college through my hard work
I paid for part of my car
I have a car
i have a cell phone
i have a lap top
18, caucasain, male, american, in college, middle-class

This may have a impact on how I look at my field work, maybe not everyone came from a middle-class family. Maybe not everyone's family looked down upon and discouraged smoking. Everyone I talk to will be in college so that will not be an issue. I do not think that having a car or having a lap top will have an effect on how I look at my research, but I will still make an effort no to bias my information either way. I think the biggest thing that may impact my research, will be the fact that I am middle-class, and the fact that I had two parents that looked down upon smoking, and openly discouraged it.