Tavernise, Sabrina. "Study Asks If Carrot or Stick Can Better Help Smokers Stop." The New
York Times 13 May 2015: n. pag. Print.
Sabrina Tavernise’s 2015 article in The New York Times titled “Study Asks If Carrot or Stick Can Better Help Smokers Stop” discussed the methods given to CVS pharmacy workers to help stop smoking. CVS, the largest pharmacy in the United States by sales, has recently stopped selling cigarettes in their pharmacies to promote good health practices in their customers, and this policy was also implemented on CVS employees. In a study led by Dr. Scott Halpern of The University of Pennsylvania, researchers found that when smoking employees were given a treatment choice of either a reward for not smoking for 6 months versus facing a slight punishment if you fail to not smoke after 6 months, “Adding a bit of a stick was much better than a pure carrot,” as Dr. Halpern said. What Halpern means by this is that the people who chose the “carrot,” or the cash reward at the end of the study, were far less likely to quit than the people that chose the “stick,” the punishment they would face if they failed to stop smoking.
Tavernise’s article sheds light into how the traditional treatment of smoking (the “carrot” method) is not very effective. This method often involves employers giving their employees free nicotine gum or counseling often does not lead to smokers quitting, as there is no real punishment for them if they do not stop smoking. This failure to effectively treat “the largest case of preventable death in the United states” puts nearly 500,000 Americans at risk of death from smoking-related diseases every year.
Tavernise’s article was very well written and informative from a reader’s standpoint. I really liked how she chose a topic to report on that many people may not have thought otherwise on, as the “carrot” method of treatment smokers has been used for several years without anyone really questioning it until recently. There were not any real errors or anything else I would have liked to see in the article, and, all in all, this article shed light into the flaws in the solving of a problem that a multitude of Americans face today.
Jeff Sargent
ReplyDeleteCurrent Events Review
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/14/health/study-asks-if-carrot-or-stick-can-better-help-smokers-stop.html?_r=0
Tavernise, Sabrina. "Study Asks If Carrot or Stick Can Better Help Smokers Stop." The New York Times. The New York Times, 13 May 2015. Web. 13 May 2015. .
In Jeb’s review of “Study Asks If Carrot or Stick Can Better Help Smokers Stop” by Sabrina Tavernise really shows the attempt of the elimination of smoking. One thing in this review that I thought was well represented was Jeb’s use of direct quotation from scientists on the subject. He used multiple quotes from Dr. Halpern, and that really influenced my opinion about the topic. Secondly, I like how he chose such an interesting topic, because I find it amazing how something that has been so popular for so many years such as cigarettes, is finally in its decline. Lastly, I really like how Jeb paraphrased and helped the reader understand the analogy of the “carrot on the stick” with the cash reward. This could help some readers understand one of the main points of confusion in the article. Overall I think that the article helped the reader understand and was very influential.
One thing that could have made Jeb’s review much better is that I think he could go more into detail about his opinion on the topic of smoking. Does Jeb think that this cash reward is a good idea, or does he think that the attempt to stop all smoking is a lost cause? I think that it helps the reader get a better opinion when he has the opinion of a scientist and a highschooler to build off of. Secondly, to make this article better, Jeb could have talked in a more conversational tone. While reading the review, it sounded like he was talking very stiffly, and it somewhat distracted me and could have been a lot better. Last but not least, one thing that impressed me was the topic of the article. It makes me think about how hard it is to stop smoking, as to where people have to pay other people to stop. Overall, I liked the topic of the article, and I think that Jeb did a great job portraying it.