Do you know what sounds like fun to me? Cancer, emphysema and cardiovascular disease, not to mention a shorter life expectancy, shortness of breath and that constant stench of stale smoke.

What do all of these wonderful things come from? One of the most popular self-induced killers in the world: cigarettes.

Being a freshman, there are many things I have noticed here at UD over my first four-or-so weeks. For example, the campus is very friendly, especially the Ghetto on weekends. People are just worried about making sure you have a good time and that is important. On campus, you cannot go far without someone, friend or complete stranger, saying hello.

Secondly, professors are very involved and engaged in their material. This makes for an environment extremely conducive to learning. Dayton is an extremely close-knit community, which makes both the educational and social aspects of college much easier.

My biggest gripe so far, though is the large amount of smokers that are present on campus. My friend even joked 12 out of every 10 people here love to light it up. I guess I will run into this problem wherever I go, but that does not make it right in any way.

Everyone knows the health risks; they are printed on the side of each carton. Therefore, my biggest question is why do people smoke? Am I missing something? Is it to look cool or more attractive? Does it actually taste good? Is coughing fun? Does it make you look more sophisticated?

If I had to guess, the answer to all of these questions would be no, especially when it comes to being attractive.

Coming from a guy's perspective, girls who smoke are not as attractive as girls who do not. This is not just my opinion, most non-smoking girls and all other non-smoking boys share this view.

Would you really want to date someone who smokes if you don't?

Kissing your boyfriend or girlfriend would be along the same lines as licking an ashtray, which really does not seem like a very romantic moment.

When I'm out on the weekends with my friends and see a girl I might want to talk to take out a cigarette, I honestly have no interest in starting a conversation with her anymore. Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of friends who smoke. But I would definitely prefer it if they would at least attempt to give up the habit.

To me, the only thing worse than smoking would be if they would chew tobacco. But, I won't get into that. The bottom line is smoking is very unattractive.

For obvious reasons I am no expert on this subject, but my objective opinion is one shared by a large portion of the non-smoking population.

If I'm missing something, please let me know. If smoking increases intelligence, maybe I'll consider giving it a try.

But for now, I'll just make the plea that people around UD's campus will consider quitting. I'm not blind to the fact that it is a difficult habit to give up, but I personally know many people who put forth the effort and are better off because of it.

It is hurting you and everyone around you.