TO THE EDITOR:
Within the past few years, alarming numbers of college and high school students have begun using e-cigarettes or Juuls instead of traditional tobacco products. I respect The Daily Tar Heel for addressing this increasingly prominent issue and the dangers that occur when students abuse these products. The article discusses the decline in cigarette use and incline of e-cigarette and other non-tobacco products. The author mentions the harmful effects that e-cigs and Juuls impose and what types of people are using them.
The problem with this article is that it insinuates that students involved in Greek life on campus are more inclined to use these dangerous substances. It is unnecessary for the article to single out Greek students and Greek life on UNC’s campus. Instead, the article could be strengthened by showing the cross-section of students interviewed, changing the direction of the questioning to focus on what level students are informed about the potential dangers of this new trend, whether they believe it is a gateway drug and including quotes from both students who are users as well as those who are not, to prevent subjective reporting.
Mentioning Greek life specifically lessens the argument because it isn’t necessary to classify user groups and doesn’t strengthen the story. My call to action is that there should be more emphasis on how we can spread awareness of the health threat this popular trend imposes on our students and seek interactive ways to get the message out to all students groups on campus.
Taylor Roberts
First-year
Media and journalism, communication
