Health Services, CHAT to Develop New Smoking Policy

A panel of the Plymouth State University Chemical Health and Alcohol Task Force (CHAT), Student Senate, O.S.S.I.P.E.E., and representatives from HPER and the Wellness Center as well as from the American Lung Association held a Smoking Policy Forum in the Fireplace Lounge on Wednesday, March 11, to discuss the possibilities of changing the PSU Smoking Policy on campus to include a 20-foot smoking ban from the entryways and open windows of buildings. Mediator and Dean of Student Tim Keefe opened the forum by introducing the members of the panel: University Police Chief John Clark, Student Senate member Amy Ciaraldi, O.S.S.I.P.E.E member Karen Gillman, Director of Program Services for the American Lung Association Diane Smoger, HPER Professor Susan Clark, Wellness Center member Wynn Lobel and Chair of the CHAT Committee Nancy Dyer. Dyer gave a chronology of the Plymouth State campus smoking policies from 1980 to 2002, after which the forum was open to questions and comments from students and faculty.Although the forum was meagerly attended, many participating students brought up both the pro’s and con’s of a new smoking policy on the Plymouth State campus. A smoker and nonsmoker’s health was a dominant topic, which included problematic allergies to cigarette smoke and asthma, as well as educating students more fervently about chemical addiction. Until last year, the Mountain View Snack Bar designated an area inside for smokers, but after surveying students, the area was promptly closed. With this new discussion on developing a new smoking policy brought the prospect of having a gazebo placed outside for students to smoke in, much like the structure at NH Technical Institute, an idea that was endorsed by many attendants of the forum.Questions that arose during the forum in the interest of smokers varied from the cost of constructing an outdoor designated smoking area, to safety concerns of moving twenty feet from a building, to cigarette receptacle maintenance and the problems of having remote ashtrays around campus. Other comments that were given applied to the enforcement of a new smoking policy with fines, the adequacy of the existing policy, and whether worrying over a new smoking policy was worth it at all.The 20-foot smoking ban would include all on-campus buildings, however, because of the close proximity of many, the new policy, if enacted, would eliminate the feasibility of smoking anywhere between eleven of the main campus buildings. The new policy may not include pathways in between campus buildings. Keefe stressed that the exchange of opposing ideas in a forum setting on important student issues such as a new smoking policy would allow the administration to be as fair as possible for everyone. Although the panel did not anticipate a Zero-Tolerance Policy, they, too, stressed the fact that no one will be 100 percent satisfied with the outcome of the decision. In April, the panel hopes to have an Internet polling survey up on the myPlymouth section of the Plymouth State University website. All students of the University are encouraged to give their feedback and comments concerning the new smoking policy development.