Over the last several years, the University Senate has grappled with a number of issues vital to the campus community – including revamping General Education, reorganizing several colleges and passing a Good Samaritan policy. But for some reason, the senate just keeps coming back to one issue: Smoking on the campus.
Three years and numerous debates after the issue was first raised, senators still can’t quite seem to come up with an effective answer and the problem has only gotten worse.
The debates began in 2009 when one concerned student asked the senate to consider banning smoking on the campus.
It wasn’t a novel decision; over the past few years, the American College Health Association has been pushing every college and university campus in the U.S. to ban smoking, which more than 500 campuses have now done.
While senators deemed the issue worthy of debate, they couldn’t seem to come to a consensus on what to do. A bill to ban smoking cycled through the Senate Executive Committee and the entire body a number of times, until the body finally came to an agreement last semester: Instead of banning smoking, smokers now had to stand 25 feet away from campus buildings to light up – a 10-foot extension from the original policy. Senators ultimately decided the university would be overstepping its boundaries by telling smokers not to do what they’re legally permitted and instead decided to enforce smoking rules more strictly.
Students weren’t so crazy about the decision. The Student Government Association voted against the measure, stating that since the university can barely enforce the 15-foot rule, extending it would be pointless.
But it passed, and apparently the university decided the best way to enforce the 10-foot extension was to remove all cigarette receptacles that would tempt students to smoke within the 25-foot bubble around a building. The senate could have required Facilities Management officials to enforce the new rule by training volunteers to educate smokers on the new parameter, but somehow decided removing the environmentally friendly ash trays was the solution.
So it’s no surprise that months later, students are complaining of an excess of cigarette butts on the campus due to the lack of a proper receptacles. The amount of cigarette litter on the campus is disgusting and embarrassing. And because this university’s smoking policy has no specific guidelines for smokers to deal with their cigarette waste, they can’t be held accountable for their actions. While it’s obviously the smokers’ job to dispose of their used cigarettes, the amount of litter has increased because the University Senate didn’t think through its decision.
Facilities Management Building and Landscape Services Director Harry Teabout said employees will once again place receptacles for cigarette butts in areas at least 25 feet from building entrances after officials identify places with serious littering problems. But what’s taken so long? The receptacles were removed months ago after the senate’s vote. It seems that both the senate and Facilities Management dropped the ball on this one and, as a result, the campus isn’t looking so pretty.
And to the senate, what was the point of extending the smoking parameter if you didn’t make sure it would be properly enforced? There’s been too much time wasted on this issue already; years of debates have led to nothing more than extra litter on the campus and smokers still smoking wherever they want. Smokers: 1, University Senate: 0.
