Tobacco Ba

Divides Un
Photos and layout by Lyle Manion
Story by Lyle Manion

Effective August 2014, the campus-wide tobacco ban has sparked debate
around the University. Some claim the new rule violates basic rights and
lacks efficacy. Others say it will eventually bring about a positive change.
Regardless, a number of students are still lighting up on campus.

an
niversity

The Quad, a location on campus where some

students still gather to smoke.

Top: These former ash trays have

been cemented
over. For some,
they still serve as
ash trays.
Bottom Right:
Facility Services
spends time and resources cleaning up
litter from tobacco
use.

Above: Susan Bareis opposes

the ban.

efore the Fall 2014 semester began, the University

banned using tobacco
products on campus. The campus-wide ban continues to arouse
varying reactions and responses
from students and faculty. One
thing is certain: In spite of the
new rule, smoke still lingers in the
air.

Susan Bareis, health promotion coordinator for the Student Health Center, said critics of
the new ban do not understand it.

Were not saying you cant
smoke. You just cant do it on the
property, said Bareis.

Bareis went on to assert
her belief that banning smoking gradually results in cultural

change. She formerly worked at

a University in Florida with a
similar ban that worked well after
three years. By that time, students
did not smoke on campus.

The rule employed here
requires students and faculty to
take action, Bareis said. Legal
enforcement does not play a role
in this ban. Instead, anyone

Top Left: Charles Manning, a student tobacco

user.
Top Right: One of many
new signs seen after the
ban took effect.
Right: The Health Center
offers assistance in tobacco cessation to supplement the ban.

can politely ask a smoker to put

their cigarette out. Actual discipline only occurs if a smoker
litters, in which case the Office of
Student Accountability and Advocacy will involve itself.

Bareis said littering is one
of the main issues the ban aims
to resolve. Time and money are
allocated to having Facility Ser-

vices clean up cigarette butts when

there exist many other tasks and
projects around campus.

Secondhand smoke, Bareis
said, is another reason for the ban.
Statistics show secondhand smoke
kills 50,000 people per year in the
United States. Asthma complications and allergies also make cigarette smoke a problem for those

close to it.

Assistance with cessation
of using tobacco is available,
Bareis said. The Student Health
Center offered three installments
of a four-part educational series
regarding quitting tobacco use
and staying clean.

Charles Manning, a
business sophomore, firmly

opposes the ban and uses tobacco

on campus.

It doesnt matter how
nicely you ask me to put out my
cigarette. The answer will still be
no, Manning said.

Students and faculty who
use tobacco should ignore the
policy primarily because it is
un-American, Manning said.
He cited religious radicals in free
speech alley who are allowed to
scream profanity at every female
who passes them. If the University
permits this, they should permit
smoking, Manning said.

On the subject of secondhand smoke, Manning said
he does not believe its effects are
significant in open spaces.

Addiction prevents the
tobacco ban from working, Manning said. Others telling a smoker
to quit during school, a high stress
environment, can adversely affect
the smoker. Lacking nicotine
from tobacco, Manning insisted,
can have a negative impact on
academics and mental/emotional
health. A

Charles Manning
lights and inhales
his first cigarette of
the day.