No issue divides the campus community as much as the issue of smoking.
Student opinion breaks down into two camps. One side advocates for a total ban on smoking. The other side views any infringement upon smoking as a personal affront.
While student leaders quibble back and forth, the rest of us are kept in perpetual limbo. The university administration hides behind this lack of consensus and avoids making the possibly unpopular decisions.
It is time for the two camps of opinion to put their differences aside and work to both enact smoking limitations and better serve the needs of our smokers.
Many smokers ask the question, "Is smoking a problem on this campus?" Yes. Smoking adversely affects all of us here at the university. The most notable problem is the perpetual cloud of carcinogenic smoke that surrounds the doors to the Mary Graydon Center, the Ward Circle Building and the library. People have to walk through this smoke and wind up breathing it into their lungs and getting it on their clothing. As prospective students and parents tour our campus, they are turned off by having to battle this very same smoke.
At the same time, some of our smokers (certainly a minority, but a sizable minority) put their cigarettes out on the side of our buildings and leave the butts for the hardworking cleaning staff to pick up. This makes our campus look dirty and keeps our staff from handling other campus beautification issues.
To address this issue, the university needs to develop three things: A clearly defined boundary of where one may and may not smoke, better smoking stations and comprehensive smoking education.
The clearly defined boundary should use the same standard used by major airports: no smoking within 50 feet of any doorway, air intake valve or window. This distance is enough to ensure entrance into any university facility free of smoke. It is also enough of a distance that it lines up with the black top on the main quad.
Questions of enforcement should be relatively easy. Other universities in the country have similar policies, and their public safety departments, or in some cases police departments, have no problem enforcing the standard.
After enacting the policy for two or three months, the university should start to fine students for failure to comply with this policy - say, $50 dollars- and direct this money to the Health Center to further fund smoking education.
At the same time that we would enact this "clearly defined boundary," we would need to provide a location for those who smoke to go. Perhaps some nice gazebos strategically located around campus with a cigarette disposal and an ashtray might work.
Smokers may complain that it is not as easy to light up. This may be a good side effect, as smoking less often will mean better overall health, fewer visits to the excellent Health Center and possibly decreased student expenses.
Finally, we need to provide comprehensive smoking education. Just as we aggressively tackle issues related to alcohol or drug use, we should provide the same services for smokers. I am not a health expert, but certainly some posters indicating that smoking leads to lung cancer, higher blood pressure and other health issues would be helpful.
A negotiated smoking solution will solve many problems and will make campus a better and healthier place to be. The Undergraduate Senate must put aside petty personal disputes and work with President Joe Vidulich to develop such a negotiated settlement.
Peter Brusoe is a doctoral candidate in the School of Public Affairs and a campus affairs columnist for The Eagle.
