Monday, March 24, 2008
Campus debates dramatic changes in smoking policy
The Tartan Online: "Cigarette butts on the Cut may soon be punishable by a fine. The Healthy Campus Task Force presented a proposal Thursday that would dramatically change the university’s smoking policy. The suggested changes would create designated campus smoking areas and enforce prohibition through a system of warnings and fines. Smoking would be prohibited in most of the heavily trafficked and residential areas on campus, including the Cut, athletic and child care facilities, and Student Health Services."
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3 comments:
How on earth are they going to enforce fining people for cigarette butts? I mean, the police would have to actually see someone doing it in order to be able to write them a ticket. I think this no-smoking thing has gotten a little out of proportion. Everyone who smokes smokes, and no one really listens to the rules anyway. People still smoke close to the entrances. I guess maybe that's what they're trying to fix, but for the most part, I think maybe this is just more of the same.
After reading this article and an editorial in the forum section (Healthy Campus is about more than smoking), I think that the smoking ban will not be very effective at improving student health — it will only force smokers to go elsewhere. From reading this news article, it is apparent that they want to appear to be doing well according to the Healthy Campus 2010 program, as Student Health Services (SHS) director Anita Barkin admitted that targeting smoking is the easiest aspect to target among all of the aspects in the Healthy Campus 2010 program. If SHS wants to make the campus healthier by reducing the number of smokers, they shouldn't be fining and banning smoking; instead they should help people quit.
There are far more pressing issues to address at CMU than smoking. Smoking isn't illegal (yet). Underage drinking is. Really, all that's going to happen is that smokers are going to feel even more alienated than they are already.
The fining thing is absolutely ridiculous. How do they expect to fine people for littering (why just target smokers and cigarette butts.. why not gum chewers and other litterers?) when they can't even enforce the 15 foot rule around University entrances?
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