Smoke Free Campus — happening.
At tonight’s ASUO Senate meeting, President Rousseau announced that the ASUO is moving forward with a smoke-free campus policy. The Executive received an $800,000 grant to be spent over a number of years from PacificSource Health Plans as part of their Healthy Campus Initiative. The plan would be implemented over two years, starting with a “Great American Smoke Out” in November. The money from PacificSource will go to the hiring of three staff members, one full time and one part time, to deal with creating a healthy campus. Rousseau stated that a Tobacco Free Campus would be the primary issue those people will work on, specifically a promotion and education plan. Rousseau mentioned adding signage promoting a smoke-free campus and taking down the smoking stations, but there would be no enforcement of the policy other than peer pressure and a culture change. The idea is to educate new students that UO is a tobacco-free campus, so that is their expectation when they become students. Rousseau also mentioned that Oregon State University is implementing a policy in January, and she would love to do it first.
Other campuses in the country do this, including Arkansas and Kentucky. Should Oregon be added to that list? Comment it up, kids, I want to know what you think. Then I’ll tell you what I think (although I think you already know).
P.S. Smoke-in next week. More details with the next post.
This policy will not change anything. Taking away the smoking stations will only create more littering of cigarette butts. I fully intend to smoke cigarettes on campus whenever the f**k I want, as should the rest of the student body… you can’t take away my freedom. STOP POWER HUNGRY BITCHES.
That kind of shit loses you debate rounds. In other words, we need more forensics kids in the ASUO.
Kind of reminds me of the Model UN (or the real UN, for that matter). They create the same kind of “non-binding resolutions” all the time that basically state a claimed policy to be upheld, with no enforcement whatsoever.
Curtis —
You’ll read more about this later, but I actually think this is a pretty good idea. Doesn’t cost students a dime, those are the ideas I like.
Also, Amelie (and really, the Health Center, cos those are the people really doing this) has no intentions of making smokers second-class citizens, which was my previous perception of the smoke-free campus shift.
There are still concerns. I’m excited to see data on the change in percentage of smokers on campus. Guess I gotta wait a few years for that one.
Lyzi, wouldn’t the libertarian roots of this fine rag predispose you toward SUPPORTING a policy that’s entirely based on influence rather than legal enforcement? I mean, unless you think smoking is actually good for people, I would think you would be in support of a campaign that DIDN’T spend student fees and DIDN’T legally enforce anything to try to get people to stop doing something that is unhealthy for themselves or others.
Or is the new stance of the Commentator/you that the only steps worth taking must be legally enforceable?
Wow, Kentucky’s campus is smoke-free? I can just see all the “betrayal” letters that prominent alumni in the tobacco industry wrote.
In a strange way, this whole non-policy policy is almost a gimme to the smokers. It’s both unenforced, and it removes specific smoking areas? Sounds more like a retreat from restriction to me. But seriously, does it really take 800k to tell people what to do?
Keep me updated on the Smoke-In. Ivar wants to shoot it again/Zoltan might be interested in multimedia/I could cover this for a class project.
Correction: one full-time and two part-time.
Wait, so they’re creating a “policy” that isn’t a policy? Smoking will be “banned,” but not banned?
What a waste of time/crock of bullcrap.