Puff legislation up in the air

Click here for student reaction to the proposed smoking ban.

Anti-smoking advocates shouldn't hold their breath waiting for the university to turn the campus into a smoke-free zone, University Senate officials said.

Despite expressed concerns about public health, a proposal presented to the University Senate that would ban smoking on the campus will have a hard time overcoming concerns about the possible alienation of smokers, who are already a minority at the university and in society, and about the policy's enforcement, key senators said.

"It's an interesting proposal," undergraduate Senator Brad Docherty said. "I think it's definitely worthwhile for the senate to look into. I mean, it also definitely has potential to stir up controversies, but it could make for a healthy debate."

Kenneth Holum, a history professor who serves as chairman of the senate, the university's most powerful legislative body, which plays a key role in advising university President Dan Mote and other administrators, said the proposal was brought to the table by an undergraduate non-senator who he declined to name.

Holum said the proposal was one of the most "well argued" and "professionally presented" propositions to come before the senate in a long time and contained an lengthy argument for banning smoking on the campus.

While the prospect of second-hand smoke was high on the list of outlined concerns, the issues of "unpleasant odors" were also addressed as a detraction from the university experience for non-smokers on the campus.

Upon review of the proposal earlier this semester, the Senate Executive Committee charged the Campus Affairs Committee with the responsibility of researching its need, its merits and its feasibility on the campus. Their findings will be presented back to the Senate Executive Committee on Monday, after which the proposal could move to the senate floor, where if it meets majority approval, it could ultimately become university policy.

Outraged student smokers, who say they already feel discriminated against, think the university should butt out.

"The university shouldn't be able to restrict you if that's what you want to do," junior English major Anthony Chu said. "Some people want to smoke. Some people don't. Let it be."

As it is, university policy already puts restrictions on when and where smokers can light up. They cannot smoke in the dorms, libraries, classrooms, dining halls or closer than 15 feet from any building entrance, air intake duct or window on the campus, in an effort to prevent the smoke from being blown into open windowsof campus buildings.

Holum, who describes smoking as "unpleasant," said regardless of his personal views on the matter, he does not think the senate should move forward with the proposal and hopes the senators reviewing the matter will take their smoking constituents into account.

"Smokers are starting to feel more and more marginalized," Holum said. "And this policy would just make them feel worse. They're like lepers. They stand together outside in the cold, puffing on their cigarettes, looking so unpleasant as it is. I don't know that there is enough reason to deprive people of their right to smoke."

Docherty, a non-smoker who also acknowledged a concern for the health of those breathing in second-hand smoke, agreed with Holum's sentiments.

"It's tough to say," Docherty said. "I think that as a senator, you always want to vote in the best interest of the campus as a whole, but you also don't want to discriminate against any minorities. Smokers are a minority. And there are professors that have been on this campus for 20-some-odd-years, and when they're smoking for that long, can a policy really force them to kick the habit?"

Some smokers said they understood the concerns about health but doubted the extent of second-hand smoke that could be taken in from walking around the campus, outside, in open air.

"I don't think it's a direct health issue if [smokers] are doing it outside," sophomore French and government and politics major Tim Young said. "I mean, I'm no scientist, but I can say that I think it's definitely an encroachment on freedoms."

Though Holum said he thinks the intentions of the proposal are good, he said he cannot see a real need or pressing health issue that really merits moving such a controversial issue - especially one that would single out and alienate countless members of the campus community.

"I find that I avoid the little clusters of smokers, personally," Holum said. "It doesn't smell good. But that's the thing. You can avoid them. It's easy."

Another problem with the proposal is the question of enforcement.

"It's a very hard policy to enforce," Holum said. "How would you do it? Would University Police give out tickets? And if that didn't work, what are they going to do? Put smokers in handcuffs?"

But, Holum added, if students, like the undergraduate who proposed the policy to begin with, are passionate about pursuing the issue, the senate will honor their concern by revisiting it, as with the good Samaritan policy.

"If it turned out to have legs, it will be brought up again," he said.

Holum said he has not read the Campus Affairs Committee's report that will be revealed Monday, but, right now, it seems, the notion of a cigarette-free campus is likely to go up in smoke.

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