Campus smoking battle continuing with Kick Butts Day
Students are gearing up for Kick Butts Day in a meeting to try and curb smoking on campus.
A student volunteer meeting will be held today to prepare for the upcoming National Kick Butts Day, which falls on Wednesday, April 25. Kick Butts Day is held annually to educate the public about secondhand smoke, assist smokers who want to quit, and increase awareness of existing smoking and tobacco laws.
The meeting will be held today in TSC room 219 at 2 p.m. and will feature Suzanne Poindexter, the Student Wellness Center’s tobacco coordinator. It will last less than an hour, but volunteers will make plans for events on Kick Butts Day as well as get information about current campus tobacco policy and proposed changes to these regulations.
“Students will be able to play an active role in policies on their campus,” Poindexter said.
She said she will speak about the dangers of secondhand smoke and what students can do to prevent them. According to the American Lung Association, secondhand smoke causes 3,400 deaths per year from lung cancer and between 22,700 and 69,000 from heart disease.
“If students are concerned about their health, they can do more than just worry about it,” Poindexter said. “They can change it.”
She said students will be able to help on Kick Butts Day as well as with petitioning and gaining support for new legislation. This new proposal would aim to enforce the Utah Indoor Clean Air Act, which prohibits smoking within 25 feet of building entrances and high traffic areas. Other goals include banning on-campus tobacco sales, offering counseling to smokers, posting signs in doorways and increasing student education about secondhand smoke.
“There is no risk-free level of cigarette smoke,” Poindexter said. “If you can smell it, it is harming your body.”
She cited the 2006 Surgeon General’s report, which states that even separating smokers and non-smokers or cleaning the air and ventilation will not eliminate the negative effects of secondhand smoke.
However, many people still support allowing smokers on campus.
“I think most of the people petitioning for cleaner air are doing it for moral reasons rather than environmental reasons,” junior Holly Siddoway said.
“If people want cleaner air, they should walk more and drive less,” sophomore Craig Reeder said. “They have a right to smoke.”
“As long as it’s outside, secondhand smoke isn’t going to hurt anyone, at least not more than campus construction and the pollution already in the air,” freshman Hannah Garrido said.
Jon Call, a junior, said he would like to see the current regulations enforced, but he wouldn’t support an outright ban.
“I choose not to smoke, but I shouldn’t be able to tell others they can’t,” he said.
However, some students felt that smokers shouldn’t have rights if they are harming others.
Freshman Sky Bosworth said, “Their rights? That’s crap. I don’t want to inhale their carcinogens!”
“Right now USU is not trying to ban smoking on campus, but we are taking steps to eliminate the amount of risk associated with secondhand smoke,” Poindexter said.
A 2005 survey of 1,664 students, conducted by the Student Wellness Center, reported that 98 percent of USU students do not smoke and 78 percent would support legislation to make the USU campus tobacco-free. A similar survey was conducted more recently, with new results available in May.
“This is not just a Utah issue,” Poindexter said, citing a USA Today article published on March 1 titled “More colleges banning smoking,” which said that 34 colleges across the nation have banned smoking altogether.
“We do not want to take away the places individuals can smoke until they have no place left,” Poindexter said. “We are looking out for the health of the majority of USU students who do not smoke. Think of the number of times in a day you smell smoke and understand that it all adds up.”
Students interested in volunteering, quitting smoking, or learning more can contact Suzanne at usuwellnessdesigns@hotmail.com or at the Wellness Center at 797-8080.