The Food and Drug Administration has required that graphic images—rotting teeth, the corpse of a smoker and a diseased lung, among others—take up the top half of the front and back of all cigarette packs by September 2012.

The nine images, which also include a man with a tracheotomy smoking and a woman with a baby surrounded by smoke, will be accompanied by phrases like "Smoking can kill you" and "Cigarettes cause cancer."

"The new warning labels on cigarettes are a huge step forward," said Geoff Zuckerman, Tobacco Free Colleges Coordinator at UNCW. "We hope it will help people think twice before buying another pack and help them to kick the highly addictive habit. We also hope that it will prevent youth from ever buying their first pack."

Tobacco advertisements larger than 12 inches must also contain a warning label that constitutes 20 percent of the ad. Smaller advertisements are not required to have 20 percent coverage but must include a warning.

Tobacco makers in the past have fought government regulation of warning labels on the grounds that the visibility of the brand is compromised. A 2009 federal lawsuit filed by Reynolds-American Inc. called the mandatory use of larger labels "unconstitutional," according to an article in Industry Leaders Magazine.

Canada, Brazil and Australia are among the 30 countries worldwide that have implemented similar rules requiring graphic images or warnings on the sides of cigarette packs. Member countries of the European Union must print warnings such as "Smokers die younger" and "Smoking kills" in large typeface.

"These kind of graphic warning labels strengthen the understanding of people about the health risks of smoking," FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said in an interview with the Associated Press. "We clearly have to renew a national conversation around these issues and enhance awareness."

According to the Center for Disease Control, more deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than all deaths from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined. The CDC estimates that cigarette smoking causes 443,000 deaths each year in the United States.

It's been almost six months since Chancellor DePaolo announced her retirement. After spending all those months searching for a new chancellor, the search committee's job is finally done. On Tuesday, April 12, the committee recommended three finalists to UNC President Thomas Ross after the list was approved by the UNCW Board of Trustees.

For confidentiality reasons, the names of the three finalists have not been released.

Now the pressure falls on Ross to find a final candidate to recommend to the UNC Board of Governors for final approval. Ross and members of the UNC leadership team will interview the three finalists and choose one final candidate.

The announcement of the new UNCW chancellor should be made sometime in May.

"While we do not yet know who will take on this exciting and challenging role, let me assure you that I and the members of the search committee feel confident that any of the three recommended candidates have the skills, experiences, knowledge and leadership qualities to take UNCW to its next level of achievement," said Wendy Murphy, chairwoman of the UNCW chancellor search committee and Board of Trustees in a press release.

The three finalists were chosen from a group of candidates that the committee interviewed in Chapel Hill in March. The top five were chosen from that group and were invited to the UNCW campus to visit and interact with some members of the student body, faculty and staff.

The new UNCW chancellor will begin work in July, following the retirement of current chancellor, Rosemary DePaolo. DePaolo is in her eighth year as UNCW chancellor. Her last day will be June 30.