With the settlements of lawsuits against “Big Tobacco”, the marketing landscape has changed and college students have emerged as prime targets. One potential result is increased initiation of cigarette smoking by college students. The present study assessed influential factors associated with cigarette smoking behaviors of students at a large Midwestern university. A multi-faceted 49-item web-based survey of cigarette smoking was developed to assess smoking patterns, social influences, perceived health consequences, and self-classification of smoking status. E-mail messages were sent to 4528 university students during Spring 2006 explaining the purpose of the study and providing a link to a web-based survey of cigarette smoking behaviors. Follow-up emails were sent three days after the initial inquiry. Responses were received from 1486 students for a response rate of 32.8%. Of the responses, 1160 completed the survey and 326 declined to participate. The 1160 participants reflected a cross-section of the student body in age, year in school, living arrangements, gender, ethnicity, and residency. The primary focus of this presentation will be on the issues that appear tied to critical influences on respondents' smoking behaviors. For instance, for those students who identified themselves as “smokers”, in response to the question “When did you know that you were?”, 45.7% selected “When I realized I was smoking every day.”. Another 32.1% indicated “I do not know when it happened, it just did.”. This latter response would indicate that for a significant portion of those who smoke, they don't tie it to any particular event or threshold level. Another finding was that of the “smokers”, almost half (46.4%) were most likely to attempt to hide their smoking from their parents. Younger siblings, potential dates, and employers were a distant second at 10%, each. Social factors emerged as strong variables in smoking behaviors. Of those who smoke cigarettes, 47.2% most frequently smoke at social events, while “Home” (20%) is the second-most cited setting. The majority (70.2%) of those who smoke, either sometimes or always feel like having a cigarette when they are drinking/socializing. Finally, 70.6% of the respondents indicated that they would “definitely not” (34.8%) or “probably not” (35.8%) date someone who smokes, and 63.8% of those who smoke agree or strongly agree that they worry some people won't be attracted to them because they smoke. These cursory findings will be discussed as will the use of the findings to tailor intervention strategies for college students. Keyword(s): disease prevention/wellness, health education college/univ