Purdue establishes policy to limit campus smoking
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 11/20/2009
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Thursday, Purdue created a policy that will make the campus smoke free.
The policy will limit smoking to certain areas on campus and will be implemented July 1. Smoking will also be prohibited in Purdue-owned vehicles.
Al Diaz, executive vice president for business and financial treasurer, said he decided to create the policy after he heard feedback from a number of campus groups. A campus-wide survey was also considered.
“I ultimately made the decision on how to proceed with the policy and did it with inputs from campus groups and with a meeting of all the representatives from individual elements of the community,” he said. “Based on the inputs, we modified the proposed policy from a total smoke-free campus to one with exemptions.”
Diaz will be responsible for designating the areas where students can smoke. He said there are many circumstances that will be considered, especially for students who live on campus.
“We’ll be looking at circumstances that will warrant special exemptions,” he said. “Criteria needs to be developed. It is just recently that we decided to do this this way so it will take time to develop. One, I will tell you, is that we do have students who live on campus. ... I think that since they live on campus and are here 24 hours a day, it warrants some special consideration.”
The policy will be monitored similarly to Purdue’s current policy. Diaz said he will depend highly on the self discipline of smokers.
Individuals can also report violations using the Smoke Free Campus Concern Form on the Web site.
“Some time in the foreseeable future we’ll do another assessment about the current policy and see how well it is being adhered to,” he said.
Ben Law, a sophomore in the School of Chemical Engineering, said that although the policy might take some getting used to, it will be a good thing for Purdue’s campus.
“I think it will be good for everyone,” he said. “We will just have to adapt to it, but it will be a good thing for campus.”
Geoff Bauer, a sophomore in the College of Education, disagrees with the new policy.
“The amount of chemicals that are in secondhand smoke pretty much go away within a few seconds,” he said. “It’s no worse than walking down Stadium or University or Northwestern and having a big diesel truck behind you. Honestly that’s probably worse for the air than a little cigarette.”