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Students voice opinions about smoking policy |
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Monday, 25 February 2008 |
by ANNE BAKER
News Reporter
Appalachian and the Community Together (ACT) hosted an open forum Thursday that gave students the opportunity to express their opinions about the new smoking policy at Appalachian State University.
The forum was the first of four social advocacy events titled “Raise Your Voice.”
The policy, which was adopted in January after recommendation by a smoking task force, established
a smoke-free perimeter of 50 feet around each building on campus.
Selected members of the task force were present during the session to address concerns brought forth
by both smokers and non-smokers.
 Senior interdisciplinary studies major Billy E. Schweig debates the practicality of a 50-foot ban on smoking at SGA’s Raise Your Voice forum. Photo by Holt Menzies.
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Enforcement of the policy was one of the biggest issues raised, even though there is a voluntary compliance period until May 31.
Task force member and clinical instructor in health, leisure and exercise science Susan Perry said
while it is important to obey the policy, the rumors about tickets and fines being given out to those who
do not comply are false.
The task force will hold a meeting to address specific issues of enforcement this week, she said.
“We are just trying to move smoke away from the doors and the windows… If we start, as a campus,
arguing over the fact that [someone] is one foot away from that 50 feet perimeter, we have lost sight of
what we are trying to do. I think we need to be respectful of each other,” Perry said.
Senior psychology major and non-smoker Julia C. Fondren expressed concern about the policy’s
impact on littering.
Since many ashtrays have been removed from campus, smokers might be more likely to throw the
cigarette butts on the ground when they finish their cigarette, she said.
Billy E. Schweig, a senior sustainable development major, said the usual areas where he smokes on
campus have already seen an increase in the amount of litter.
“It’s piling up to the point where certain areas where I’m at used to have maybe five to 10 [cigarettes]
on the ground and now there are 100 to 200,” he said.
It is important for the task force to address the rise in litter when it meets again, Fondren said.
Regardless of concerns the new policy has created, in order for it to be effective, members of
Appalachian’s community must have both patience and courtesy, Perry said.
“[Remembering the policy] is a process…[non-smokers] need to hear how hard it is for [smokers],” she
said.
The next Raise Your Voice event will address the university’s response to UNC Tomorrow, which
addresses Appalachian’s role as part of the University of North Carolina system.
The event will be Thursday from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in room 421 of the Belk Library & Information
Commons.
Interested students can visit ACT’s Web site at www.act.appstate.edu for more information.
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