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Students speak out about smoking ban
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Fall 2009 Boise State will be a smoke-free campus.
According to Ferd Schlapper, executive director of Health, Wellness and Counseling Services, 85 to 90 percent of students, faculty and staff said they would support a smoke-free campus.
Carl Benson Jr., a returning student to Boise State, said he has mixed feelings.
“Well, I’m just quitting smoking, actually, so it’s a good question,” he said. “I personally, as someone who is liberal politically … I don’t think it’s something that should be imposed on students.”
Most students – smokers and non-smokers alike – see both good and bad in the new policy.
Some students would support a measure to restrict smoking to only certain points on campus instead of banning the habit altogether.
“I think that in theory it [restricted areas] could be a good idea,” Political science major Jessica Martin said. “I think the problem with designated smoking areas is that people don’t always abide by that and they kind of blur the lines with the designated smoking areas and drift other places on campus.”
Benson agreed with Martin that restricted areas could work, but said the weather would be a factor.
“I don’t see people complaining as long as you don’t live somewhere where it’s cold. And it’s cold here,” he said.
Schlapper said the reason the university is going straight to a smoke-free campus is to avoid confusion. By making only certain places available for smokers, students may not know where to smoke year-by-year and may get frustrated.
One issue that has students concerned is that of on-campus residents. Students who reside at Boise State would be required to walk off campus before lighting up.
The Green Belt, a path running next to the university, is considered Boise State property.
“I don’t think that’s safe … for a young freshman female by herself,” Benson said.
Student Activities Program Coordinator Carrie Miller shared a different view of the smoking ban. She’s not against it, but she is worried about what it might do to the air around Boise State.
“I am concerned with all sides of campus,” she said, “And it being surrounded – like a smoker circle. Because, you cross one street and that’s where you can smoke. You cross the green belt and that’s where you can smoke.”
She said there’s no such thing as a smoking section. Smoke can travel through the air, so she’s worried it may bother churches and residences near campus.
According to the Boise State smoke-free FAQ guide, a letter will be sent to the university’s neighbors information them of the policy.
COLBY STREAM
News/BizTech Editor
