“We think it is important to keep the smoke-free policy visible,” said Samantha Spiers, president of the Student Health Advisory Committee, which is hosting the event for the third time. “This is a fun event that allows students to show their support for a smoke-free campus.”

The four students who collect the most cigarette trash will be awarded $50 gift cards to Barnes & Noble.

To participate, students should check-in at the smoke-free tent on the Student Union patio between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to pick up their supplies. Students return their collected trash to the tent so it can be measured for volume and then disposed of by Environmental Health and Safety. All participants will be given UCF smoke-free T-shirts, and the four winners will be notified the next day for prize pickup.

The UCF smoke-free policy went into effect in 2012. Since UCF went smoke-free, Valencia College, Florida State şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą and Seminole State College have also joined the more than 1,500 universities and colleges in the nation with smoke-free or tobacco-free, policies in place. When UCF made the change, all outdoor cigarette-butt receptacles on campus were removed. Mary Schmidt-Owens, assistant director of UCF’s Medical and Health Administration, said that keeping the receptacles would have sent conflicting messages, so it was decided to remove all receptacles on campus.

Schmidt-Owens, co-chair of the UCF smoke-free committee, said the campus Environmental Health and Safety staff reports that cigarette trash is down from before the policy went into effect. She said the health center continues to offer smoking-cessation support to all students, faculty and staff who are interested in quitting. To register, contact the center at 407-823-2701 or www.hs.ucf.edu.

While some students choose projects in traditional biomedical or clinical disciplines, many look into other medically-related areas including Creative and Performing Arts, Engineering, Computer, Physical and Social Sciences, and Health Administration and Policy. To satisfy these interests and encourage students to pursue interdisciplinary research, the medical school is seeking faculty members with complementary interests to serve as research mentors.

Faculty members may express their interest by completing a brief survey at or by copying and pasting the following URL into their internet browser:  .  Completing this survey will ensure a faculty member is invited to a Meet the Mentor event planned for mid-September, is placed in the mentor directory provided to students, and is included in future communications and information sessions about the FIRE module.

The FIRE program is similar in some ways to traditional student research programs and different in other ways.  The first year includes class time on fundamentals of research design and statistics followed by time-linked milestones to guide students in producing a research plan and moving forward.  In the second year, students reach further milestones, culminating in a final research poster presentation.

Some students complete their projects early and continue to work with their mentors on additional research. Many elect to continue working into their third and fourth years.

Students have presented their results at national professional meetings and several have papers accepted in peer-reviewed journals. Time constraints are a challenge of the FIRE program. Medical students carry a heavy course load and must integrate the research into a demanding curriculum schedule. It is very important that students be able to consult with their research mentors regularly to ensure they are making satisfactory progress and acquiring the necessary intellectual skills to gain a meaningful experience. The Medical School expects to continue the practice of providing a budget of $2,500 for each student to help defray costs of the research and travel to a meeting to present results.

The FIRE module is a unique opportunity for UCF medical students to gain first-hand research experience. Faculty mentorship is a key component to student success. For more information, please contact Module Directors Dr. Diane Jacobs (Diane.Jacobs@ucf.edu) or Dr. Stephen Berman (Stephen.Berman@ucf.edu) or Module Coordinator Elizabeth Smock (Elizabeth.Smock@ucf.edu).

But now that the şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą is going smoke-free, so is the 42-year-old campus employee. With UCF’s help, Nayfeh is kicking the habit he started at 19.

“My kids are happy for me, too,” said Nayfeh, who works in lab support and property control for the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science.

UCF is joining hundreds of colleges and universities around the nation that have a tobacco and/or smoke-free policy in place. The new initiative begins the first day of the fall semester – Monday, Aug. 20 – and applies to employees, students, visitors, vendors and others while on UCF-owned or leased properties, including university vehicles.

The initiative was put into motion last year by President John C. Hitt to encourage healthy lifestyles and change the university community’s behavior so that everyone’s right to clean air is respected. (The /smokefree website has FAQs, information about smoking-cessation classes, a schedule of workshops to learn about the policy, and how to submit a question about the policy.)

Another campus employee, Molly McCarter, said she was motivated to stop her 20-year smoking habit because she started running for exercise last year and now is training for a marathon.

“It certainly is easier to run when you don’t smoke,” said McCarter, production manager and coordinator of stage management for Theatre UCF. “Who knew? Everybody knows! Everyone who picks up a cigarette knows what it does to them.”

Nayfeh and McCarter said they have tried to quit numerous times through the years, but this time they vowed to succeed in advance of the university’s policy.

“I tried several times to stop, but they were short – days, even hours,” said Nayfeh, who recently attended a smoking-cessation class on campus that offered tips, motivational advice and support from fellow classmates.

“This time it was really different. I was lucky to have all the support from the class, and I took it more as a challenge this time. I figured that if I took just one cigarette, like I used to, I’d go back.”

McCarter said nicotine-replacement patches were certainly helpful, but her biggest trick to stop smoking was exercise.

“Every time I wanted a cigarette I’d go into the bathroom and do about 20 jumping jacks,” she said.

UCF Health Services officials have boosted support for the campaign by getting endorsements from groups around campus, such as the Faculty Senate, USPS Staff Council, Student Government Association, HR Liaison Network, Greek Council, Fraternity and Sorority Life, and others.

Mary Schmidt-Owens, co-chair of the campaign steering committee and UCF’s assistant director of Medical and Health Administration, said UCF joins more than 700 other colleges and universities with similar policies.

“I am hopeful that as the result of the policy there will be fewer students picking up the habit,” Schmidt-Owens said. “What begins as an occasional social behavior quickly becomes a daily habit, often resulting in an addiction to cigarette smoking. I see this policy as the first step in discouraging a lifelong habit.”

The university hopes that employees and students become ambassadors of the campaign and model healthy behaviors for others to follow. Anyone aware of someone smoking on the campus is encouraged to politely explain the policy and ask the smoker to comply.

Efforts will focus on increasing the awareness of the policy instead of fining or punishing smokers. The policy will be reviewed after a year just like other new policies that are put into place, Schmidt-Owens said.

The university has been providing cessation services and resources – including individual and group classes, support groups, counseling, self-help materials and medications – to employees and students who want to quit. For a list of upcoming classes, check the website.

JeVeire Moore, a Health Services pharmacist, said free nicotine-replacement therapy is available for those in the smoking-cessation program, and nicotine-replacement patches, gum and lozenges can be purchased by anyone at the UCF Health Center.

Nayfeh and McCarter encourage others to take the class to improve their own health.

“When smokers wake up, they have a horrible taste in their mouths. But they get used to it,” Nayfeh said. “They should quit for their health, for their looks, their smell. Everything has changed for me. For the people who still smoke, I wish them a better life without it.”

The Orange County Health Department named Owens a “Public Health HERO” today as part of its celebration of National Public Health Week.

Owens, co-chair of the UCF Smoke-Free Steering Committee, was honored for her commitment in transforming UCF into a smoke-free campus.

The smoke-free policy will is scheduled to go into effect this fall.

For information about the campaign, go to .