2008 Woodie Awards
Smoking ban may go to Mason
Ben Fornell - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 12/3/07 Section: Metro
- Page 1 of 1
A committee chartered to study a smoking ban at the UI will deliver its draft policy this week. It is expected to recommend a near total ban, and UI President Sally Mason is expected to sign it.
Susan Buckley, the UI associate vice president for Human Resources, and co-head of the committee, said some exceptions are being considered - Kinnick Stadium and the University Apartments are two that have been mentioned.
She declined to mention specifics of the recommendation on Nov. 30 but said she and the Smoking Policy Review Committee are drafting a policy based on the "totality of the recommendations." Former UI interim President Gary Fethke originally charged the committee with taking input and studying how soon a ban on smoking could be implemented.
Buckley said the Staff and Faculty Councils have overwhelmingly supported a total ban and that support with UI Student Government failed by only one vote. Those organizations have no power in the process; the votes serve only as input for Mason before she makes a decision.
"The majority" of the 262 e-mails the committee has received have been in favor of a ban, Buckley said.
Buckley's fellow committee members are Susan Johnson, a UI associate provost, and Joni Troester, the director of UI Worklife/Wellness.
Both Buckley and Mason said they expect a draft proposal to be ready sometime this week. Mason can make changes to the policy before signing it or reject it all together.
Steve Parrott, the director of University Relations, said Mason would not comment for this article. In a DI interview before she began her job at the UI, she said her mother's health was dramatically affected by cigarette smoking.
She also praised the current ban on smoking within 25 feet of any campus building, noting that the risks of smoking are well-known. Mason, who holds a Ph.D. in biology, has also told the DI that she has been a longtime supporter of health-care causes.
"I'm saddened when I see young people who pick up a nicotine addiction as early as they do," Mason said in June. "There are personal pieces to this that I can't let go of."
Buckley said that if a ban is put in place, police will likely not start ticketing offenders right away. Currently, when someone is caught violating the smoking ban at UI Hospitals and Clinics, he or she is reprimanded, she said.
"Increasing education of expected behaviors can be quite effective," she said, noting a piece of wisdom she picked up from studying other university smoking bans. "If people on campus are considering quitting, they'll have a lot of help and support along the way."
E-mail DI reporter Ben Fornell at:
benjamin-fornell@uiowa.edu
Susan Buckley, the UI associate vice president for Human Resources, and co-head of the committee, said some exceptions are being considered - Kinnick Stadium and the University Apartments are two that have been mentioned.
She declined to mention specifics of the recommendation on Nov. 30 but said she and the Smoking Policy Review Committee are drafting a policy based on the "totality of the recommendations." Former UI interim President Gary Fethke originally charged the committee with taking input and studying how soon a ban on smoking could be implemented.
Buckley said the Staff and Faculty Councils have overwhelmingly supported a total ban and that support with UI Student Government failed by only one vote. Those organizations have no power in the process; the votes serve only as input for Mason before she makes a decision.
"The majority" of the 262 e-mails the committee has received have been in favor of a ban, Buckley said.
Buckley's fellow committee members are Susan Johnson, a UI associate provost, and Joni Troester, the director of UI Worklife/Wellness.
Both Buckley and Mason said they expect a draft proposal to be ready sometime this week. Mason can make changes to the policy before signing it or reject it all together.
Steve Parrott, the director of University Relations, said Mason would not comment for this article. In a DI interview before she began her job at the UI, she said her mother's health was dramatically affected by cigarette smoking.
She also praised the current ban on smoking within 25 feet of any campus building, noting that the risks of smoking are well-known. Mason, who holds a Ph.D. in biology, has also told the DI that she has been a longtime supporter of health-care causes.
"I'm saddened when I see young people who pick up a nicotine addiction as early as they do," Mason said in June. "There are personal pieces to this that I can't let go of."
Buckley said that if a ban is put in place, police will likely not start ticketing offenders right away. Currently, when someone is caught violating the smoking ban at UI Hospitals and Clinics, he or she is reprimanded, she said.
"Increasing education of expected behaviors can be quite effective," she said, noting a piece of wisdom she picked up from studying other university smoking bans. "If people on campus are considering quitting, they'll have a lot of help and support along the way."
E-mail DI reporter Ben Fornell at:
benjamin-fornell@uiowa.edu
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 4
maria
posted 12/03/07 @ 8:27 AM CST
Bravo! It would also help the university look much cleaner, too, without all the cigarette butts littering the ground. Smoking is filthy in more ways than one. (Continued…)
stephen-radosevich
Steve R.
posted 12/03/07 @ 8:32 AM CST
A complete smoking ban EXCEPT at two spots. Kinnick Stadium exempted, I guess the university has always kowtowed to the big money donors..after all they were the 1st to break the drinking ban that the powers to be tried to impose on game day tailgating. (Continued…)
Melissa
posted 12/03/07 @ 4:09 PM CST
Hurray for the U of I taking the lead in the state on banning smoking. Someone needs to get the ball rolling in Iowa. This is long overdue. I can remember getting bronchitis as an undergrad there 25 years ago because my dorm mates smoked. (Continued…)
Megan O
posted 12/03/07 @ 10:18 PM CST
Or, you know, they could just enforce the rule they already have. If they can't enforce that, I don't see how it's going to go campuswide.
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