SGA continues debates on smoking ban issue

A proposed smoking ban for the GCSU campus appears to once again be under consideration by the Student Government Association.

The proposed policy, which would ban smoking on campus except in certain designated areas, was sent back to an SGA committee last April. But, the committee is now set to meet again to reconsider making GCSU a smoke-free campus.

SGA President Zach Mullins, a junior management major, is a voice for the students of GCSU.

“The issue of smoking on campus has yet to be decided,” Mullins said. “The committee has begun to meet once again and discuss further actions the ban will partake, but it’s still in the planning stages.”

There are five different standing committees of the University Senate, but the RPIPC committee, which consists of seven students and faculty members, is the working group that has taken on the smoking-ban policy.

The process began with SGA passing a resolution and deciding that it was an institutional policy, therefore it was sent to the Resources Planning and Institutional Policy Committee or RPIPC.

Dr. Doug Oetter, an associate professor of geography and a committee member, said he knew the process was going to be a big deal. Oetter said he knew the policy would be an issue because certain people want to be able to defend their right to smoke, but aren’t vocal about it in public because it’s just one of those things.

“We had to look at what policies were already there,” Oetter said. “As it turned out the University System of Georgia already had a policy in place. We weren’t enforcing it and it didn’t appear that we were aware of it.”

Almost a year ago, the committee held two open forums and it became evident that there were smoker activists and non-smoker activists, but that a policy limiting smoking on campus was desired.

“There are places on campus where students and faculty come together and smoke heavily,” Oetter said. “If a non-smoker happens to walk through those areas they become very uncomfortable and offended.”

According to an SGA campus-wide wellness survey, 60 percent of respondents would like GCSU be a smoke-free campus.

Caitlin Wright, a senior nursing major, voiced her opinion on having a smoke-free campus.

“I cannot stand walking behind someone that is smoking on the way to class,” Wright said. “I know that second-hand smoke is deadly and I don’t want to die just because my campus wasn’t smoke free.”

Many students, like Wright, know the health guidelines stating that smoking can cause cancer and other health problems, not just for smokers, but also for others around them.

The next step for the RPIPC committee is to designate specific smoking areas and conduct a university-wide survey to accurately determine the percentage of university personnel and students who are in favor of or against the proposal.

The results of the survey, along with the clarified policy, will then be forwarded to the RPIPC for consideration and, if warranted, submitted to the University Senate for a vote.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 2 2009. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry