2008 Woodie Awards
Mason reviews smoking ban
Ben Fornell - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 12/5/07 Section: Metro
- Page 1 of 1
The UI may be smoke-free by July 1, 2009, if UI President Sally Mason signs a proposal delivered to her Monday.
The recommendations from the UI Smoking Policy Review Team, released Tuesday, are that all cigarettes and other tobacco products that are smoked be snuffed on the campus - including in University Apartments, theatrical performances, and Kinnick Stadium.
Mason declined to comment on the policy. Steve Parrott, the director of University Relations, said she may not comment until after the first of the year. It is her sole authority to sign or amend the document.
Mason, who has been a longtime supporter of health-care causes and holds a Ph.D. in biology, said she was known at Purdue University for measures aimed at protecting the health of students.
The UI President has said her mother's health was affected by smoking and that the issue is a personal one for her. She has praised the current ban on smoking within 25-feet of campus buildings, calling the risks of smoking "well-known."
UI sophomore and smoker Beth Andorf doesn't care.
"That would not be cool," she said, taking a drag on a Marlboro Light well within the 25-foot perimeter of the UI Main Library. "The government keeps taking away our liberty. Pretty soon, it's going to be looking through our windows with satellites."
Andorf said that the alleged risks of second-hand smoke are worth preserving a little liberty.
"When people are walking around campus, the effect is minimal," she said. "At what point does it stop?"
Now, according to UI Vice Provost Thomas Rocklin.
He said that smoking culture has changed slowly during his more than two decades at the UI.
"Each time [a smoking] area was taken away, it seemed like it was going to be terrible," Rocklin said, noting that there was a time when smoking was allowed in UI offices and classrooms. "But each time, things went on."
The recommendations include no exemptions for UI housing. Currently, smoking is allowed in designated residences in University Apartments, but the review team has recommended that that privilege be eliminated by the fall of 2008.
The review team - associate Vice President for Human Resources Susan Buckley, associate Provost Susan Johnson, and director of wellness Joni Troester - examined the smoking policies at 13 of the UI's peer institutions.
Of the 13, seven have exemptions for designated student housing and four have no exemptions whatsoever to the indoor smoking bans that all 13 schools share.
The policy-review team was first chartered by former UI President David Skorton in December 2005, and a new team was created by former UI interim President Gary Fethke in April to collect further input from the UI community and study how soon a ban could be implemented.
But Andorf says a ban won't matter to her.
"I'm going to keep smoking until they arrest me," she said.
E-mail DI reporter Ben Fornell at:
benjamin-fornell@uiowa.edu
The recommendations from the UI Smoking Policy Review Team, released Tuesday, are that all cigarettes and other tobacco products that are smoked be snuffed on the campus - including in University Apartments, theatrical performances, and Kinnick Stadium.
Mason declined to comment on the policy. Steve Parrott, the director of University Relations, said she may not comment until after the first of the year. It is her sole authority to sign or amend the document.
Mason, who has been a longtime supporter of health-care causes and holds a Ph.D. in biology, said she was known at Purdue University for measures aimed at protecting the health of students.
The UI President has said her mother's health was affected by smoking and that the issue is a personal one for her. She has praised the current ban on smoking within 25-feet of campus buildings, calling the risks of smoking "well-known."
UI sophomore and smoker Beth Andorf doesn't care.
"That would not be cool," she said, taking a drag on a Marlboro Light well within the 25-foot perimeter of the UI Main Library. "The government keeps taking away our liberty. Pretty soon, it's going to be looking through our windows with satellites."
Andorf said that the alleged risks of second-hand smoke are worth preserving a little liberty.
"When people are walking around campus, the effect is minimal," she said. "At what point does it stop?"
Now, according to UI Vice Provost Thomas Rocklin.
He said that smoking culture has changed slowly during his more than two decades at the UI.
"Each time [a smoking] area was taken away, it seemed like it was going to be terrible," Rocklin said, noting that there was a time when smoking was allowed in UI offices and classrooms. "But each time, things went on."
The recommendations include no exemptions for UI housing. Currently, smoking is allowed in designated residences in University Apartments, but the review team has recommended that that privilege be eliminated by the fall of 2008.
The review team - associate Vice President for Human Resources Susan Buckley, associate Provost Susan Johnson, and director of wellness Joni Troester - examined the smoking policies at 13 of the UI's peer institutions.
Of the 13, seven have exemptions for designated student housing and four have no exemptions whatsoever to the indoor smoking bans that all 13 schools share.
The policy-review team was first chartered by former UI President David Skorton in December 2005, and a new team was created by former UI interim President Gary Fethke in April to collect further input from the UI community and study how soon a ban could be implemented.
But Andorf says a ban won't matter to her.
"I'm going to keep smoking until they arrest me," she said.
E-mail DI reporter Ben Fornell at:
benjamin-fornell@uiowa.edu
Viewing Comments 1 - 6 of 7
Wolfgang
posted 12/05/07 @ 7:19 AM CST
points to ponder:
What ever happened to the concept of a non-partisan committee decision that included the rights of people that smoke....
Sounds like there will be bias in President Mason's FINAL decision on this. (Continued…)
stephen-radosevich
Wolfgang
posted 12/05/07 @ 3:36 PM CST
S
posted 12/05/07 @ 7:58 AM CST
"The UI Smoking Policy Review Committee was that non-partisan committee. They recommended the ban be put in place by 2009. (Continued…)
Megan O
posted 12/05/07 @ 4:33 PM CST
"all cigarettes and other tobacco products that are smoked be snuffed on the campus - including in University Apartments, theatrical performances, and Kinnick Stadium. (Continued…)
Phil
posted 12/05/07 @ 6:54 PM CST
This is a great idea. There are already many university campuses across the country that have banned, or will soon ban smoking on campus. The days of smoking in public are numbered. (Continued…)
dodoo02
posted 12/06/07 @ 12:06 PM CST
wat is thiz about???????????
Beth
posted 12/06/07 @ 5:07 PM CST
I would just like to clarify that I smoke Camel Filters and I am not heartless about her mothers illness. Smoking is not illegal and when a small minority is taking away my liberties I simply don't care about these bans because they are infringing on my right as an American to smoke. (Continued…)
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