For Louisiana State University women's basketball coach Dana "Pokey" Chatman, agreeing to lend her name and face to promoting a message of tobacco prevention was a "no-brainer."

Besides the obvious ramifications that smoking can have on a person's health, Chatman said the effect of tobacco on the life of her former coach, boss and mentor Sue Gunter, has made the issue especially close to her heart.

"When you're involved with athletics, you're always more aware of that because it's not something that is frequented in the athletics arena, so you're just a little bit more conscious of it," she said. "A little bit closer to home, coach Gunter smoked for 30-plus years, so I was always aware of some of the things that she struggled with. There's someone that is extremely close to me and had an impact on my life -- not just my basketball life, but my adult life. I felt blessed that (the opportunity to be involved in tobacco prevention) came about."

Chatman will promote the annual BACCHUS and GAMMA Peer Education Network tobacco prevention symposium, which will be connected to the Women's Final Four this year. Both events are scheduled for Indianapolis. Chatman's likeness will be featured on posters, advertisements and in the event program.

The Fourth National Tobacco Symposium on Young Adults is the result of collaboration between the NCAA and the BACCHUS and GAMMA Peer Education Network, an organization of health-related, peer-education programs based at colleges and universities worldwide. The symposium is funded by a grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Aimed at young adults and professionals who work with young adults, the symposium provides participants with two days of educational sessions, keynote speakers, exhibits and networking opportunities.

Tools to stop tobacco use

Olivia Senn, associate director of health promotion for BACCHUS and GAMMA, said she hopes the symposium will help people interested in the issues of tobacco prevention and cessation gain tools to put to use in their home communities.

"People at this conference will be really hungry for (policy change), along with many of the other programming ideas that they'll be able to pick up," she said.

Three keynote speakers will highlight the program, including a standup comedian who may have contracted lung cancer from second-hand smoke in comedy clubs and a former cast member of MTV's "The Real World" who has done extensive research on the targeting of young people by tobacco companies.

The connection with the Women's Final Four also will help reach young people, Senn said.

The symposium, scheduled for March 30 and 31 at the downtown Indianapolis Marriott hotel, will happen just before the Women's Final Four. The NCAA will piggyback off of the symposium's message with an educational display promoting an anti-tobacco message at the Hoop City event.

The campaign, entitled "Play Tobacco Free -- Stay Tobacco Free!" will target young fans of women's basketball by promoting healthy choices at an early age. The educational display will include a "proclamation" signing board that youth can sign after they take the pledge to remain tobacco-free.

Another feature of the Hoop City presentation will be the distribution of basketball-colored "Power" wristbands similar to the yellow wristbands sold by the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

In addition to the Hoop City display, the campaign also will feature an educational display in the vicinity of coach's meetings during the Women's Final Four.

NCAA Assistant Director for Education Outreach Mary Wilfert said the Association got involved with tobacco-prevention efforts after receiving the results of a 2001 student-athlete survey about drug use. The survey showed that 22 percent of the student-athletes surveyed had smoked cigarettes in the last 12 months, though 11 percent indicated they had stopped smoking. Of that remaining 11 percent, more than a quarter indicated that they smoked daily, and most said they started in high school.

Wilfert said the results were troubling, even though the number of student-athletes who indicated they used cigarettes was significantly less than the number of other college students who smoke. (The 11 percent of collegiate athletes who smoke is less than half the number of smokers in the general campus population.)

"We were concerned about the numbers of tobacco users," Wilfert said. "At the same time, we're pleased that the overwhelming majority of student-athletes don't smoke, which models positive behaviors for youth."

The use of spit tobacco is still high among student-athletes in certain sports, Wilfert said, but that number has been decreasing.

"This is all about promoting positive lifestyles," she said.

Participants can register for the symposium until the day of the event. For more information, visit www.
tobaccofreeU.org or www.bacchusgamma.org.