Picture 20 or so clean-cut, studious fraternity boys pounding the books on a late Monday evening. Over the house PA system comes the call, “The Skoal guy is here, come and get it.” A mad dash of hairy legs and smelly ball caps follows, and 15 guys tumble into the television room, looking for free cans of chewing tobacco.This was the scene at the Alpha Gamma Sigma fraternity house recentlywhen free cans of Skoal and Copenhagen snuff were handed out, compliments of the U.S. Tobacco Company.”A U.S. Tobacco representative came to the fraternity house with a large bag of smokeless-tobacco samples,” said fraternity president Brian Reese. “Anyone who filled out a company questionnaire was given three to five cans of snuff, free of charge.”The questionnaire asked for names, mailing addresses, phone numbers and tobacco usage habits, said Reese, a senior majoring in human resource management. In addition, each person signed a disclaimer stating he was at least 18 years of age.”I personally think chewing tobacco is a disgusting habit, but the guys in the house who chew love the Skoal guy,” Reese said. “If they had their way, he’d come around once a week.”Reese said U.S. Tobacco visited the house twice during fall quarter. Members from Phi Kappa Psi and Delta Theta Sigma said the company also solicited members recently.”I have no problem with the company coming to our house,” said Ivan Belleville, a senior animal science major and president of the Delta Theta Sigma house. “These guys are adults, if they want to open the door when U.S. Tobacco knocks, who am I to stop them?”A U.S. Tobacco employee, who requested anonymity, said the company is targeting Ohio State fraternity members. He said 18 to 24 year old males are the key users of smokeless tobacco products, and that’s why they target fraternities.The employee also said the company hired two OSU students, Jeremy Reese, a senior majoring in animal science, and Charlie Warthling, a sophomore majoring in agricultural education to solicit fraternity houses door to door. Both students, citing company policy, declined to comment when the Lantern contacted them.”Ohio State has no jurisdiction over who solicits fraternities because they are off-campus,” said OSU legal affairs spokesperson, Peggy Batross. “In this situation, the city of Columbus would have jurisdiction.”Craig Colopy, license officer for Columbus, said the company doesn’t need to register with the city because they are only giving away free samples. If it was going door to door selling the product, or if it wanted to set up a promotional display at the corner of High Street and 15th Avenue, it would need a permit.Though OSU doesn’t enforce any policies on smokeless tobacco, a representative of the James Cancer Hospital discourages its use.”While the media and President Clinton have been focusing on the deadly consequences of smoking, few have been paying attention to the adverse side effects of smokeless tobacco,” said John Wilson, associate director for cancer control at the hospital.”What’s worse is the tobacco companies have been promoting smokeless tobacco as a safe alternative to cigarettes, even though it contains twice as much nicotine,” Wilson said. “It’s also more habit forming and has been proven to increase the rate of oral cancer in users.”When asked about the negative side affects of using his company’s products, the U.S. Tobacco employee said, “snuff has not been proven to cause oral cancer and they (the company) don’t believe it is addictive.””I’ve been using snuff for five years and I go through about five cans a week. At three dollars and a half per can, that’s almost twenty dollars,” said Eric Channell, a sophomore majoring in business. “It’s a habit I’m trying to quit because I can’t afford it, but if they keep on giving it to me free, I’ll keep right on dippin’ and spittin’.”