When we see a sign on campus, what do we do? Read it, of course. When it gives instructions straight from the school, do we follow it? Of course — but only if it’s inconvenient, right? By the second week of school, everyone knows not to park in front of the Union because the parking sign states that it is private parking until 4:30PM. Obviously, parking there with a commuter pass beforehand has consequences. Right, so we’ve established that signs on campus are important, but what about the sign in front of Middleton? This sign clearly states that we are a TOBACCO FREE CAMPUS, yet students stand out there every day and smoke away. Is there no punishment? If not, why should I have to follow the parking rules? If the school can be selective about punishments for breaking certain rules, I should be able to be selective about the rules I choose to follow. This is logical right? Furthermore, parking anywhere I choose presents no sort of danger to anyone, whereas smoking presents the risk of second-hand smoke, which can be a pretty serious thing for some students on campus with cardiovascular health issues.
My question is this; what’s being done about enforcing the rule about going TOBACCO FREE on campus? My idea is this, instead of going tobacco free, why not have designated smoking zones on the north and south part of campus? I understand that quitting is very hard for people that even want to quit smoking, so setting up smoking zones would at the very least move the location of the smoking hub away from such a central/busy part of the campus. Likewise, this move would probably provide much more satisfactory tours for students and parents who take tours of the campus.
The smoking zones for the north and south part of campus could be placed behind Middleton and next to Pierre’s Landing, respectively. Another idea can be having a school-wide (moodle3 provided) survey to choose a location. In the meantime, I believe that having an officer in front of Middleton to enforce the rule would be more beneficial than setting up a seldom read sign.
Thanks for reading,
David Munoz
senior, electrical engineering