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Smoking forum ignites emotions |
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Thursday, 01 November 2007 |
by LAUREN LAWSON
News Reporter
The Student Government Association sponsored a smoker’s policy forum at Appalachian State University Tuesday as a panel of members from the newly appointed task force answered questions posed to them from smoking and non-smoking students, faculty, and community members.
While there were introductions by task force members such as the Chancellor’s Chief of Staff Dr. Lorin Baumhover and Appalachian State University lawyer David Larry, the majority of the forum was open to questions from the audience.
Baumhover
said Appalachian submitted regulations as part of the state agenda, was
accepted by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors and
joined by a number of other universities.
Baumhover was not aware the legislature would deal with the issue by passing two separate laws.
“There are two pieces of legislation. One is mandatory, requiring all
UNC university system buildings to be smoke free effective Jan. 1, and
another that is permissive and up to the university’s discretion,”
Larry said.
Larry said Appalachian is allowed to create a smoke-free perimeter up
to 100 feet from buildings, but the university has no obligation to do
so.
A task force was created in order to come up with a policy for Appalachian dealing with smoking on campus.
 David Larry, an Appalachian State University attorney, is a member of the smoking panel who helped answer questions Tuesday. Photo by Bryan Tarnowski
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“The task force created is made up of 23 members representing the major constituencies on campus,” Baumhover said.
The task force will create a recommendation to Chancellor Kenneth E.
Peacock, who will take it into consideration before drafting up a
policy that then would also be open to modification before final
implementation, he said.
The task force has three subcommittees: information, smoking cessation, and enforcement.
Baumhover said some of the issues to be discussed include smoking
perimeters around buildings, smoking in state-owned vehicles, smoking
at athletic and other events, the possibility of creating designated
smoking areas around campus, and a time frame for implementation.
Political science major Corey R. Clapper asked how many members of the
task force were smokers and Baumhover said they were not quite sure
except that each subcommittee had at least one smoker.
A major theme discussed was the logistics of enforcing the new smoking policy.
Larry said repeat offenders who failed to abide by the policy could receive a ticket for up to $25.
“When a student has 15 minutes to get to class and say we have
designated smoking areas and they are nowhere near where I am walking
it seems unfair for me to have to change my lifestyle in fear of
receiving a ticket,” junior political science major, Megan E. Cerino,
said.
Larry said while they had not yet decided exactly how enforcement of
the new policy would be handled, University Police would have the
authority to issue tickets.
“There could be a mixed enforcement…such as being referred to student conduct,” he said.
The issue of a budget came up when more than one student asked what
would happen to the ashtrays around campus and what the costs would be
to move them.
“We currently do not have a budget…we have only met once,” Baumhover said.
Hurst wanted the audience to know they have been gathering information as fast as they could since the legislation was passed.
Graduate student in higher education Hildreth Davis said at a junior
college in California they banned smoking entirely from campus.
“Before the ban you never saw cigarette butts, but after the ban the
butts were everywhere because they removed the ashtrays,” Davis said.
Davis said she believed in change through education and not legislation.
“It looks like what we’re trying to do is change behavior through
legislation…people don’t like being told what to do,” she said.
Many students in the audience were concerned about the fact that only one undergraduate student sits on the task force.
“That is why we are here, to listen to you and get information and feedback from students,” Baumhover said.
Baumhover said the group hopes to have a policy drafted by the end of the semester.
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