A university policy that currently allows people to smoke anywhere outside could soon change, according to Student Government President Joe Vidulich.
"President Kerwin has made it a point that smoking is going to be discussed on this campus in the coming year," he said at an SG forum held Thursday night in the McDowell Formal Lounge.
The forum was a chance for students to express their opinions on the smoking policy. Under the current policy, it costs the university $6,000 a semester for the man-hours to clean up the cigarette butts on the Letts-Anderson Quad alone, according to Vidulich.
Students at the forum completed surveys, which asked for their opinions on five potential policies. Although only 52 people responded to the survey at the forum, the SG will put the survey on its Web site for students to take Monday and re-evaluate after compiling those results, Vidulich said.
Almost all of the students at the forum identified themselves as nonsmokers, so the SG wants to offer the survey to a broader range of students, Vidulich said.
The "status quo" option would keep the policy as it is, permitting smoking on the grounds of the university and outside buildings. The "complete smoking ban" option would prohibit all smoking on campus. The "buffer zones" policy would ban smoking at the shuttle stops and within 25 to 30 feet of any campus building. The "courtesy clause" option would encourage smokers to be considerate of nonsmokers by moving away from entrances and avoiding exposing others to second-hand smoke. A "designated smoking areas" policy would restrict smokers to specific areas, which would include benches, ashtrays and possibly pavilions to protect them during inclement weather.
The survey also asked students to indicate how the university should enforce the new policy, with options ranging from no enforcement to D.C. fines and JAMS referrals.
Many university policies already limit individual freedoms, said Ryan Van Parys, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences.
"Even though I'm not a smoker, I think that at the point at which you ban smoking on campus, you're violating natural laws in this country," he said at the forum.
Sarah Bahraini, a junior in the School of Communication, said she thought the smoking policy needed to change.
"Smoking is harmful to anyone who has to breathe in smoke, and I think that's selfish," she said at the forum.
Vidulich asked the group how many students supported a campus-wide ban. Three students out of the almost 70 who attended raised their hands.
Nonsmokers should not have to smell cigarette smoke, according to Steve Dalton, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs.
"I support a school-wide ban on campus, period," he said at the forum. "I think it's necessary."
More students, however, raised their hands in support of the "courtesy clause" policy.
That policy is similar to the one in place at Georgetown University and does not include strict enforcement, according to Georgette Spanjich, chair of the Undergraduate Senate Committee on Students' Rights.
"The courtesy clause would be more of a publicity campaign," she said at the forum.
The courtesy policy could prove ineffective, according to Rafik Salama, a freshman in CAS.
"You can't legislate courtesy without enforcing it," he said at the forum.
Starting with the courtesy clause publicity campaign is a good idea and would allow the SG to re-evaluate the policy in the spring, Vidulich said.
"I don't think a complete ban is going to work on our campus," he said. "I don't think that's feasible"
