Tobacco Use Could Lead to Suspension
November 20, 2011
By Grant Milner, Junior, University of Memphis
The University of Memphis will implement a tobacco free policy on campus beginning in July. The new policy has been issued by the University of Memphis administration in hopes of showing students and faculty members how to be respectful in the community after their time at the school.
Last year, the student government petitioned to make the campus tobacco free and saw positive results from students and faculty.
Administration and school officials are warning students that if they do not comply with the tobacco free policy on campus, there could be suspensions to follow. Complying with the state law, the University of Memphis currently bans smoking within 20 feet of any building.
“I was shocked when I heard the news about the ban,” said Alex Hoffman, a sophomore at the University of Memphis.
He said jokingly, “I don’t know how I am going to get anything done on campus now.”
The University of Memphis is not the only school that is banning tobacco products on campus. One hundred percent smoke free campuses are becoming more common across the United States, as 586 schools have now made the switch to tobacco free. From the University of Kentucky, to the University of Oklahoma, schools are beginning to realize just how important it is for their campuses to be tobacco free.
“I don’t think that anyone likes to go through a cloud of smoke every time that they walk into a building on campus,” said Kody Alexander, senior at the University of Memphis.
“Come July, our campus will be a much healthier place to be in general because you aren’t going to see cigarette butts littered everywhere. Cleaner equals better.”
Schools are having success so far with their new tobacco policies according to an article from CNN. The University of Kentucky has implemented a volunteer group that walks around campus and respectfully asks those who are smoking cigarettes to put them out and gives them information that can help them quit smoking.
More than 120 schools in the last year have now switched to tobacco free policies on campus. Students play the most key role in getting tobacco off campus because the students are what keep the universities in business.
“New policies typically come about because students and faculty are questioning the role of tobacco in an educational setting and deciding to discourage its use and exposure,” said Liz Williams, Project Manager of the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation.
College campuses continue to worry about the role of tobacco in their student’s lives because of the statistics of how many people are using tobacco.
Of the 30,093 students surveyed at 39 different colleges, 4.4 percent had smoked at least once a day in the past month according to a report by the American College Health Association.
“Smoking has become way too socially acceptable,” said Lexus Keoninh, a junior at the University of Memphis. “It doesn’t matter where you go on campus, people are smoking. If you go to a party on the weekends, people are standing out back smoking like it is the cool thing to do.”
Smoking has become so common on college campuses that if a person lives on campus, he or she gets a more of an idea of how much people smoke in college. Eleven percent of students on campus at the University of Memphis smoke on an everyday basis.
That is why colleges and universities all across the United States that are going to these smoke-free campuses are worried about how many residents the campus will lose if the tobacco ban is established.
“I’m glad I moved off campus before this ban happened,” said Alex Hoffman, a Carpenter Complex resident last year. “I wouldn’t have made it through the year if I had to leave my apartment every time I wanted to smoke.”
Family housing is also available on campuses for those that need a more affordable place to stay while in school. What will parents who enjoy smoking do? Will they be forced to leave their homes on campus because of their habit?
In the new tobacco policy, however, there is a plan to keep smoking rooms at the Holiday Inn on campus, and to allow smoking for school plays and other artistic activities going on at the school.
There will not be policing on campus in July, but merely students looking out for others in the University’s attempt for a “Healthier New Century” as the school celebrates its centennial. After all, 87 percent of lung cancer deaths occur from people that are frequent smokers.
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