Students get a look at a smoker's lung at exhibit

Valley High School senior Stephanie Smith pointed at the blackened human lung sitting in a glass display case.

"Are my lungs going to look like this just from secondhand smoke?" she asked.

Smith was one of 50 Valley High School students who participated in the 30^th annual Great American Smokeout by participating in a program that involved "Bodies ... The Exhibition" at the Tropicana on Nov. 16.

The anatomy and physiology students were given a presentation by spokespeople from the American Cancer Society, the Nevada Tobacco Prevention Coalition, the Southern Nevada Health District and Sierra Health Services. Afterward, they toured "Bodies," which features an exhibit on the hazards of smoking and allows patrons to throw away their cigarettes.

In addition, patrons who threw away their cigarettes were given a $4 discount off the ticket price and a goodie bag with gum, tips and tricks to quit smoking, and other literature.

The "Bodies" exhibition features 21 whole-body cadavers and 260 organs and partial body parts.

Cindy Roragen, the executive director of the Nevada Tobacco Prevention Coalition, said it is important to catch teens before they choose to light up.

"Almost all adults who smoke started smoking in high school," Roragen said. "The tobacco industry targets them. They call these people 'the replacement smokers.' "

Roragen spoke to the students about tactics she said the tobacco industry employs to get teens and children to start smoking. She said tobacco use in movies has a great impact on teens deciding to smoke.

Roragen brought with her a jar of brown sludge -- an exact representation, she said, of the tar that fills smokers' lungs when they smoke one pack per day for an entire year. The jar held about 17 fluid ounces of the "tar."

"When a smoker wakes up in the morning and coughs, this is what they're trying to get out of their lungs," she told the students.

Eighteen percent of the youth in Nevada smoke, compared with 23 percent of adults, according to Roragen. Nevada is ranked 16^th in the nation for smoking, Roragen said, compared with the No. 2 position it held 10 years ago.

"It used to be one of the highest. Now we are doing better," she said. "Maybe if more companies do what 'Bodies' is doing, Nevada will improve. Maybe this is the start."

Kristie Gerard, the anatomy and physiology instructor at Valley High School, said she heard about the event through a districtwide e-mail. She said she jumped at the chance to have her students participate.

"There is nothing that I think of that I can show them that could have the same effect as this," Gerard said.

Anatomy and physiology is an elective course offered to juniors and seniors at Valley High School.

Gerard said she will refer back to "Bodies" throughout the year. She said she hopes students will gain "an eagerness to learn more about themselves and a connection with the class."

Cheryl Mure, director of education for "Bodies," said field trips are available for all Clark County schools, grades K-12 and post-secondary. Mure said the field trip emphasizes how students' choices affect their bodies.

"It's a once in a lifetime chance for them to see inside of their own bodies and to better understand how their bodies work," she said.

Mure said educators can get more information on field trips at www.bodiestheexhibition.com. She said "Bodies" offers free teachers' guides, lesson plans for every system of the body, a guide to the exhibition galleries, a student guide with field trip activities and an extensive glossary. Tickets are offered to students at a reduced price and are free for chaperones.

After the presentation, the students toured the entire exhibit, paying special attention to the blackened lung featured beneath a statistic saying that each pack of cigarettes drains two hours and 20 minutes from the human life span.

Junior David Michaels said the lung was just plain "gross."

"It's straight black," Michaels said. "It completely turns me off to smoking in any way."

Michaels said he doesn't smoke, but the exhibit made him think about how much he inhales secondhand.

Senior Leslie Guytor said she knows from personal experience with her family that smoking has harmful effects, but the presentation made her think about things she had not considered.

"I didn't think about how watching movies (with tobacco) would make someone want to smoke," Guytor said.

Smith said she felt that the blackened lung was disgusting.

"People don't realize they are not only hurting themselves, they are hurting others around them," she said.

Smith said she felt that the exhibition was effective.

"I think people that smoke should come here and see what it does," she said.