Nellie Fiorenzi sat outside the English building Monday afternoon with a half-smoked cigarette dangling from between the fingers on her left hand.

The cigarette was one of about 30 she would smoke by the end of the day. Fiorenzi, senior in LAS, was one of thousands of women who would smoke Monday, Tuesday and probably the remaining days of the week, month and year.

Fiorenzi said she has tried to quit smoking five or six times and plans to try again in the future, but the statistics are not in her favor. A recent American Legacy Foundation study said most young women who quit smoking resume the habit within a year.

According to the organization's annual telephone survey published in July 2003, only 3 percent of women ages 16 through 24 succeeded in quitting for one year, compared to the 60 percent who tried to quit.

The American Legacy Foundation, a national public health foundation, surveyed 6,572 people ages 12 through 24 from July 2002 through January 2003. According to the survey, 25 percent of women ages 16 through 24 lit up in 2002.

"I just get really nervous (when I stop smoking)," Fiorenzi said.

She said the longest period she has gone without a cigarette has been two weeks. She averages a pack and a half a day.

Vicky Yeisley, junior in LAS, said she has been smoking for the past six years and has tried to quit about four times. The longest amount of time she said she went without a cigarette was three months. She smokes about half of a pack each day and has a cigarette when she wakes up every morning.

"I just like it," Yeisley said. "It's something that I've never really wanted to give up."

She said she knows she should worry more than she does about her smoking and plans to quit later in her life.

"Once I have children I will," she said. "It will be more important to me then."

According to the survey, 83 percent of women who smoke believe they would be able to quit if they wanted to stop smoking.

Yeisley said smoking is not just a social activity for her and that she smokes alone as well.

"We see a lot of students who have realized their smoking is not just social," said Ilene Harned, the alcohol, tobacco and other drug health educator for McKinley Health Center.

She said McKinley offers individual counseling for both men and women, medical clinic appointments, advice packets and medication for University students who want to quit smoking. Students can get prescriptions for a nicotine-replacement patch and Zyban, two smoking cessation medical aids, for a fee.

"We try to offer support and feedback for those students who want to quit and who are actively trying to quit," Harned said.

Fiorenzi, however, is not actively trying to quit.

While she finished her cigarette, she paused after every few sentences to raise it to her mouth and inhale. She tilted her head slightly to the left and blew out the last puff from the cigarette before finishing the conversation.

"It's probably in my top five things to fix in my life," she said. "But it's not my top priority."

People who smoke will be encouraged to quit smoking later this year by the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout, which takes place annually on the third Thursday in November to urge people to quit smoking.

Harned said McKinley plans to hand out 425 Quit Packets on campus and in the Champaign-Urbana area during the third week in November to support and publicize the Smokeout.