Residents' Interhall Congress to introduce referendum against UA tobacco ban
Nick DeMoss
Issue date: 1/26/09 Section: News
UA smokers may be a step closer to being able to light up on campus without violating university regulations if the Residents' Interhall Congress passes a proposed amendment to the current tobacco policy.
The policy, which began in July, states that "smoking and the use of tobacco products (including cigarettes, cigars, pipes, smokeless tobacco and other tobacco products) by students, faculty, staff and visitors are prohibited on all UA properties."
This means that, if the policy were enforced, students desiring to use tobacco products would have to leave campus to do so, something that endangers students, said William Hogan, RIC president pro tempore.
Hogan is the author of the proposed bill, which calls for designated smoking areas on campus that would be restricted to "certain well-lit and publicly accessible areas."
Limiting smoking to these areas would potentially reduce danger to tobacco users who otherwise would have to leave campus, sometimes on foot, to use their tobacco products, according to the bill. ?
"While residents of Maple Hill and Reid can just walk across the street, Pomfret, Yocum, Humphreys and Holcombe residents, as well as students living in the Northwest Quads, have to go farther to get off campus, which is dangerous at night," Hogan said.??
The bill is designed to provide "safe and sanitary" living conditions for the more than 4,000 on-campus students who represent the RIC constituency, Hogan said. Although the ban is currently not being enforced, it, like any policy, would be felt by most on-campus students if it were enforced in the future.
Although enforcement has been an issue since the tobacco policy took effect, the proposed bill would help remedy the problem by making an easily enforceable system, Hogan said.??
"While I do not see it happening in the next year or two, the policy, even if kept in place, will need to be enforced. It reflects poorly on a university to have a policy that is completely disregarded," he said.
The policy, which began in July, states that "smoking and the use of tobacco products (including cigarettes, cigars, pipes, smokeless tobacco and other tobacco products) by students, faculty, staff and visitors are prohibited on all UA properties."
This means that, if the policy were enforced, students desiring to use tobacco products would have to leave campus to do so, something that endangers students, said William Hogan, RIC president pro tempore.
Hogan is the author of the proposed bill, which calls for designated smoking areas on campus that would be restricted to "certain well-lit and publicly accessible areas."
Limiting smoking to these areas would potentially reduce danger to tobacco users who otherwise would have to leave campus, sometimes on foot, to use their tobacco products, according to the bill. ?
"While residents of Maple Hill and Reid can just walk across the street, Pomfret, Yocum, Humphreys and Holcombe residents, as well as students living in the Northwest Quads, have to go farther to get off campus, which is dangerous at night," Hogan said.??
The bill is designed to provide "safe and sanitary" living conditions for the more than 4,000 on-campus students who represent the RIC constituency, Hogan said. Although the ban is currently not being enforced, it, like any policy, would be felt by most on-campus students if it were enforced in the future.
Although enforcement has been an issue since the tobacco policy took effect, the proposed bill would help remedy the problem by making an easily enforceable system, Hogan said.??
"While I do not see it happening in the next year or two, the policy, even if kept in place, will need to be enforced. It reflects poorly on a university to have a policy that is completely disregarded," he said.
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