In our country, and specifically at Fort Hays State University, we value and respect civil liberties. If a campus-wide smoking ban is instated, we can no longer say with absolute certainty that this is true.
This comes from a non-smoker and a student who believes it is any student’s right to step outside and smoke a cigarette between classes.
Smokers understand the more rational complaints. Plenty of people are unable to tolerate the slightest bit of cigarette smoke due to various medical conditions.
To remedy this, smokers have no problem stepping outside to smoke, yet the Student Government Association’s proposed smoking ban bill reflects an unjust need to unnecessarily end all on-campus smoking.
SGA’s bill states that smoking would be prohibited on campus, around athletic buildings and in designated parking areas. However, the ban would not affect the current policies of smoking outside on-campus residential buildings. Smoking would be limited to parking zone two.
The problem is that it’s a bandwagon complaint – plain and simple. Smoking has become a bane of society. South Park played on this idea with the image of Rob Reiner downing a quadruple cheeseburger while preaching to a smoker about the health risks of smoking. Too many of us non-smokers have developed the belief that smoking is unacceptable in any environment.
Some can’t inhale second-hand smoke due to health issues, but in this case, the smoke is outside and easily avoidable – as well as harmless. Nobody’s deliberately blowing it in anybody’s face.
Others hate the smell, but most of us could name about five other Hays odors that rank more offensive than cigarette smoke.
Another complaint is the litter. There was a Sonic bag full of garbage and uneaten food on the road between the quad and Forsyth Library not too long ago – may as well ban fast food too.
SGA released a poll in an attempt to gauge student interest on the issue. The focus of the smoking ban’s debates will likely revolve around the most important question in the survey: Which regulation(s) do you favor? (Check all that apply).”
A check-all-that-apply question, in this case, is absurd. There’s a considerable difference between regulated smoking areas and an all-out ban, and voting for both is nonsensical. For more accurate poll results, ensure that every student who votes makes a decision on one policy. A non-smoker will likely be in favor of both an on-campus regulation and a campus-wide ban – the poll’s results are skewed by this poorly crafted question.
Students complain about smoking near the doors, yet many can’t even tolerate the idea of designated smoking areas. Think about it: enforcing designated smoking areas means you, as a student, will know where people smoke and can even more easily avoid them – as if it isn’t easy enough already.
Think about the lack of logic in a campus-wide smoking ban. How harmful is smoking when it’s done outside? Do you walk into the building reeling from the second-hand smoke you just inhaled? Rarely is there ever a group of more than four people smoking near one entrance, and if they do, anyone can easily use a different door if those life-threatening seconds between walking in front of the smoke and opening the door are truly fatal.
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