er 16, k,
Tuesday • September 16, 1997
Lifestyles
With the increased popularity of cigar and pipe smoking,
medical experts warn the trend poses adverse health effects
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By Michael Schaub
Staff writer
I a Tltat do Rush Limbaugh, Demi
|^/% / Moore, Kramer from “Seinfeld”
IV V and that professor outside Ster-
ligC. Evans Library have in common?
Not just their high salaries. These peo
ple are leading
what seems to be a
growing national
trend — cigar smok
ing.
The New York Times
has called cigars “prop(s)
for the ’90s,” and stogies do
indeed seem to be gaining
popularity, especially among
young people.
J. J. Ruffino, owner of J. J.’s Pack
age Stores, said he has seen a mete
oric rise in cigar sales at his two
Bryan-College Station liquor and to
bacco stores.
“We started with a display box that held
six boxes of cigars,” Ruffino said. “Soon we
had a humidor that held about 40 boxes.
Now we have in excess of 400 boxes in our
walk-in humidor.”
Ruffino said the rise in the popularity
of cigars has been building for 25 years,
and is probably due to the effects of Hol
lywood and the media.
“Celebrities have had more to do with
[the popularity of cigars] than anything,”
Ruffino said. “You’ve got Cosmo Kramer
(actor Michael Richards) on the cover of
Cigar Aficionado magazine. Who knows
that Kramer smokes cigars? Anyone who
watches ‘Seinfeld’ knows.”
Cigar sales at J. J.’s have increased 40 to
60 percent a year over the past five years,
Ruffino said.
Matt Cowan, a sophomore anthropol
ogy major, said he has smoked cigars for
four years.
“I like the taste better than cigarettes,”
Cowan said. “I don’t consider myself a ma
jor cigar smoker. It’s mostly just a matter
of when I can afford to smoke.”
Cowan said he has noticed the increase
in the trendiness of cigar smoking.
“When I first started smoking, it was
kind of different,” he said. “Now it seems
very en vogue. It’s just fashionable to be
seen smoking cigars, I guess, and that’s
cool. But five years from now, it won’t be
as fashionable.”
Other College Station tobacco stores
have enjoyed the rise in popularity
brought about by the cigar trend.
Just Smokes, a tobacco store on Uni
versity Drive, opened four months ago.
Store manager Michael Penny said Just
Smokes sells about 2,000 cigars a week.
“It’s picked up quite a bit,” Penny said.
“Cigars are popular with some students.
Our most popular (brands) are probably
the Macanudos and Arturo Puentes.”
Ruffino said he plans to open another
J. J.’s in the Lone Star Pavilion on Texas
Ave. The store will specialize in cigars and
tobacco accessories.
“It’s going to be a premium store with a
heavy emphasis on cigars,” Ruffino said.
“We’ll have an exclusive smoke room —
kind of a membership situation.”
Although more and more celebrities
seem to be lighting up, a cigar backlash
has begun. Television personality Jenny
McCarthy appeared on the cover of
Newsweek magazine, holding a cigar
away from her in evident disgust.
Sharon Arnold, director of nurses at A. R
Beutel Health Center, said cigars pose sev
eral health risks.
“Cigars have more nicotine and tar
than cigarettes,” Arnold said. “They pro
duce 30 percent more carbon monoxide.”
Arnold said the research of ETR Asso
ciates indicates a high percentage of oral
cancer among cigar smokers.
“The ETR pamphlet says that one cig
ar a day can cause addictive changes in
brain cells,” Arnold said. “Plus, cigars pro
duce 25 times as much secondhand
smoke as cigarettes.”
Nevertheless, the demand for cigars con
tinues to outweigh the supply, Ruffino said.
“We’re making a major investment in
this industry,” Ruffino said. “Supply has
n’t caught up with demand yet. But it’s get
ting close.”
GRAPHICS BY DAVE HOUSE & BRAD GRAEBER
P o or dye: Agsies show their true colors
Rv runic IVIaijthvi narpntal snnervisinn handful of onlookers. However, not evervone looks Colored hair is seen in an adverse lieht bv som
By Chris Martin
Staff writer
nthropologists have long studied the curious
social practices that surface among a certain
species of mammal. From time to time, a few
©embers of the herd artificially enhance the color of
Jeir woolly crowns.
Each year a few students see one of the colored
[aniums around campus. They are students with
ir tones above and beyond what their maker pro-
ied— and color them anything but ashamed.
Hair dye is a medium some college students use
express themselves. For a few, their expression is
tisfied with red highlights or a set of golden bangs,
r others, expression may manifest into a person-
interpretation of multi-colored modern art in
pia: Hyper Heir locks.
■rge with the! F° r those inspired by Julia Louis-Dreyfuss’ com-
iew” -UCI Dli:rc i a ^ Si an y l° ca l retail or drug store has adequate
provisions for a natural-looking dye job.
?H,S K F 01 ' those inspired by Dennis Rodman, a bit more
ourse Hours ffort is needed to locate the essentials,
s Of Materiai 1 F actor y at Northgate carries a wide palette of
( |aii dyes, including orange, pink, blue, green and sil-
h ProctoredlW er Adreon Henry, owner of the Factory, said stu-
ialyzed Score Rifents dye their hair for various reasons.
Full-length Mf “Some people will dye their hair just for Halloween
e Extra Help 01 some special occasion,” Henry said. “Others do it
to stand out and be different.”
RUCTORS ■ s ome freshmen dye their hair when they get to
Students W tbllege as a symbol of their freedom from direct
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ave PreppedWE'
parental supervision.
“A lot of students dying their hair just got away
from home,” Henry said. “They do it because they just
want to be themselves for a while.”
College is a time of self-discovery. Unfortunately,
many students discover too late that having a drag
on tattooed across their back is not the kind of ex
pression they want. The uniqueness of brightly col
ored hair lasts only as long as a person chooses.
Henry said most semi-permanent dyes last from two
to six weeks, depending on the method of application.
“If you want it to stay longer than two weeks, then
you should let the dye soak in for an hour instead of
thirty minutes and use a hair dryer,” Henry said.
The conservative reputation of Texas A&M leads
many to believe that all Aggies are dyed-in-the-wool
maroon. An outstanding few, such as Betsy Roll, a se
nior biology major, happen to have their hair dyed
neon red.
Roll jumped into the dying game “head first” her
sophomore year.
“I’ve almost lost track of the times I’ve dyed it,” Roll
said. “It’s been fuchsia, bright red, bleached blonde
and now it’s kind of a neon red.”
Roll said she has no particular agenda for dying
her hair.
“I guess I just do it to do it, to say that I dyed my
hair,” Roll said. “With the color I have now, I definite
ly stand out. I like it when random people come up
to me and go ‘Hey, cool hair.’”
Since a large majority of A&M students have their
natural hair color, neon colors garner more than a
handful of onlookers. However, not everyone looks
on in admiration.
Roll said a few people treat her unfavorably be
cause of her hair, but it is to be expected at A&M.
Juan Munoz, a sophomore political science major,
said he feels students with colored hair are treated
differently at A&M.
“It’s not very common here,” he said. “It’s interest
ing to see people with strange hair, but it makes them
difficult to look at when you talk to them.”
Colored hair is seen in an adverse light by some
people. Munoz said people should be more accept
ing of people with different hair.
“It’s only hair, basically,” Munoz said. “As long as
they don’t make other people do it, it’s perfectly fine
by me.”
While the thought of multi-colored Aggies puts
many students into a purple haze, the brave few that
are left see a colorful life ahead, unstained by pig
ment prejudice.
ROBERT MCKAY/The Battalion
g-Medical Di 1
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Marvin Hamlisch with the Austin Symphony Pops
T T
IXe most recently played for two sold out
capacity crowds of 18,000 at the Hollywood
Bowl. Now he's coming to Rudder
Auditorium. Don't miss Marvin Hamlisch
as he leads the Austin Symphony Pops
through orchestral versions of his biggest
hits from the stage and screen, including
highlights from his Pulitzer Prize winning
musical, A Chorus Line.
One night only!
September 27, 1997 8:00 PM
Rudder Auditorium
Marvin Hamlisch,
Award-winning Composer
For tickets, call the MSC Box Office at 845-1234
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