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Smokers Not Welcome Here

Published: 2010-09-24    Views:76 reads

 

Brief: The non-smoking policy, instituted at the conclusion of the last spring semester, is an affront to those who believe fervently in personal liberties and the right to self-determination.

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The non-smoking policy, instituted at the conclusion of the last spring semester, is an affront to those who believe fervently in personal liberties and the right to self-determination.

Some students argue in favor of the ban, stating that they cannot tolerate any smoke in any situation. These students often cite the dangers of secondhand smoke, but ignore the rate at which it dissipates in open air. Some go as far to take the holier-than-thou approach, making the case that smokers should be discouraged from their self-destructive habits by whatever means necessary. They're the ones that pushed the University to which I pay tuition to disallow me from smoking on campus. Some of them argue as though anyone who's started smoking in the last 20 years is not aware of the dangers.

A study conducted by Stanford University researchers, published in the Journal of the Air and Waste Management, found that in open air a non-smoker would need to be 18 inches or closer to a smoker with a lit cigarette to notice significant amounts of secondhand smoke. Unless you're about to hug or kiss me, 18 inches is a bit too close. Tobacco smoke simply isn't the same nuisance outdoors as it is indoors. Furthermore, what will these students do in the real world, when Purdue isn't there to keep everyone from smoking around them in public?

The Office of the Dean of Students has indicated that it would go as far as expelling students for repeated violations of the smoke-free campus policy.

"Repeat violations of any University regulation could ultimately result in a student being removed from school," said Dr. Jeffery Stefancic, associate dean of students.

It's a shame that Purdue will threaten its own students with expulsion for doing something completely legal just so it can print "smoke-free campus" in their little brochures. It's also a shame that any university with a coal-fired power plant can declare itself "smoke-free" and not be laughed out of any credibility it had.

The designated smoking areas are sparse and greatly distant from each other, especially on the academic campus, making it extremely difficult for students to find one in between classes. On the smoke-free campus website, www.purdue.edu/smokefree, Purdue politely offers a comparison chart to other Big Ten schools' smoking policies; at least they've provided a list of which universities smokers should considering transferring to. Their hospitality, kindness, and consideration to student smokers is stifling.

Despite the smoke-free campus policy, cigarette butts now litter our sidewalks due to a lack of ashtrays. Students are still smoking, but the ashtrays are all gone. The only enforcement of the smoke-free campus policy, for the large part, is peer reporting. "Since the policy took effect," said Stefancic, "there have been no referrals to the Office of the Dean of Students for follow up through the student conduct system."

Unless the University were to hire additional security to enforce it, a complete ban, no matter what the language, is practically unenforceable. If that's what it would take to enforce a ban, I'm sure we could find something much better to spend money on.

The only positive side to this story lies in the way in which designated smoking areas have brought student smokers together. If anything, the sense of community and comradery among smokers has skyrocketed in the face of adversity. If alcohol is social lubricant, then consider tobacco the social glue we've almost completely kicked off campus without just reasoning.