Monday, July 26, 2010

Smoking on Campus

There has been recent discussion about a smoking ban at UW Fox Valley. Because there are some people who are for completely banning smoking, some people who are against it and some people who want to find a happy medium, we are opening this issue up for discussion among and between students.

Possible topics:

  • Where should people be allowed to smoke?
  • Where shouldn't people be allowed to smoke?
  • Would you support using segregated fees* to fund a special area for smokers?*Segregated fees are small portions of the tuition you pay which are used for products/services/events which are of a benefit to the student body.

Also, feel free to post links to sites involving smoking, smoking bans, college smoking topics, forum threads, other blogs, etc.


This is a campus shared by students, faculty and staff. When making a decision that will affect most of us in some way, it is best to see what will benefit the greater good.

This is the first post on the new Student Association blog, so keep your eyes peeled for future posts, right here. The purpose of this blog is to bring us together and have our voices heard. This is your chance to share your voice. Please take advantage, people who can implement change are watching.

**PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL AND KEEP IT CLEAN - POSTS CONTAINING PROFANITY OR PERSONAL ATTACKS WILL BE DELETED**

Thanks,

Jesse Anderson

65 comments:

  1. Picture yourself as a person who has never smoked, whether it be because you value your health, you think it stinks, you think it's a weakness, a waste of money... No matter what, your opinion is probably solid and attached with a general negative view, though not necessarily expressed, toward smoke, smoking, and smokers.

    On the flipside; picture yourself as a person who does something they enjoy. You do it at home, in your car, outside, almost everywhere. You do it all the time. Then you come to a place where you are paying to be, a place where you spend a large amount of your time, a place where you want to be able to do things you enjoy, as in the rest of your life.

    Two different sides. Niether can be made completely happy. There must be a compromise, which is still a lose-lose (ask Professor Lovell), or an outright black and white, win-lose.

    To me, smoking is not eating, it is not water or oxygen. That is to say it is not necessary. If people want to smoke, it is like an added bonus to them, a luxury. Can this campus afford to cater to luxury? A luxury that does nothing but provide health risks and brief satisfaction to a small percentage of people?

    Because smoking is harmful, students, faculty, and staff who do not wish to be subjected to such should not have to be. Personally I think it is fair to make the campus and 25 feet around the building smoke free, perhaps with the exception of a designated area away from walkways leading to doors, patio furnature, and other areas where non-smokers have to pass in their daily routine. Somewhere in the "quad" which is large enough to accomodate such an area, and convenient enough for smokers to go to for a cigarette.

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  2. Your statement above could apply to alcoholics as well, a luxury and an addiction that is not allowed on campus.

    I stated in my email to the Dean that if individuals would like to smoke they can, but not on the area of land that contains the buildings of the university, or anywhere in the staff parking areas. Signage is a must and containers for disposal of smoking materials should be provided, but I think the expense of constructing a shelter is not necessary. People who have such a high craving for nicotine have several products available to them to provide their nic fix without smoking.

    If this is going to happen, the wordage should also include e-cigs as well since we really do not know the effects of the vapor that is produced.

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  3. Aside from outside the emeritus room and the smoking area right directly out the 1300 hall the designated smoking areas last yr I felt were respectful enough and not at any point did I find so many people in the areas in which smoking was allowed that it would be disturbing for non-smokers. Why waste money on a shelter when the areas at the edge of the parking lot seemed to be sufficient. Banning smoking completely however I feel is unnecessary

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  4. I believe this school should be non smoking...more educated people eventually stop smoking because they realize the insanity of paying to give ones self a heart attack or lung cancer.I smoke on occasion, but if I need a cigarette I can go off of school grounds to smoke. NON SMOKING is the way to go, the state is taking this healthy step I believe we should follow suit.
    blessings in love and light
    Mary Kay Elsner

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  5. Smoke free.

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  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. Here is my take on the issue at hand. There have been emails and comments made for and against the smoking ban on campus. Many of the comments that have been made are on each end of the spectrum. In order to make everyone somewhat happy a compromise needs to be reached.
    There have been good ideas for compromise which include but not limited to: building a Gazebo away from the building or restricting a designated smoking area that is away from doors and ventilation intakes. In order for compromise to take place we need to listen to each other and exchange more ideas. Whether or not you are for/against this ban your input will help the administration and the student government create a viable solution for all.

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  8. I think how it is already is fine. We have one designated spot at school besides the parking lot that is for smoking. It is fine as is.

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  9. I realize people have freedoms and we should have as few limits as possible on those freedoms. I respect your right to do what you want, but please respect my right to be healthy. In the past few years, I have developed allergies to smoke. Even being around a little smoke causes me to cough. More than once have I walked out of school and into a cloud of smoke. We already have posted "no smoking within __ feet" signs and I think we need to honor and expand those further.

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  10. I think our set up is fine the way it is. We do have signs posted and no one really cares...they still smoke where they want. I do not think anything will change because it is hard to enforce these rules. Unless you have the cops coming around handing out fines nothing will change no matter what kind of smoking rules you come up with.

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  11. Second hand smoke is a real and serious health risk, and I do not believe it is right to subject students who do not smoke to it. I think designated areas outside of the buildings, secluded but still convenient, is the best solution. Smoking is a choice, not a necessity, and it can cause serious health issues. If it is the personal choice of each individual smoker to expose themselves to that risk, then non smokers should also have the right to keep themselves safe from that risk, and not be forced in to a situation where they can not avoid it.

    Information on second hand smoke on the American Cancer Society site:
    LINK

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  12. Oops, that link didn't work. Here is the URL, in case anyone is interested.

    Information on second hand smoke on the American Cancer Society website:
    www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerCauses/TobaccoCancer/secondhand-smoke

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  13. Making the entire campus smoke free is unnecessary in my eyes. The smoking area's are limited and if a non-smoker wishes to not smell smoke then stay upwind :)

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  14. I'd rather not have to hold my breath to walk through the doors to get into the building. A smoke free campus would be preferable. Past experience says signage doesn't work, only bans do. I'm also against using segregated fees to provide facilities for this behavior unless we are going to provide for all types of habits.

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  15. I think anyone that is complaining about their health and people smoking outside should get a reality check. you're outside. your not really breathing in all of their second hand smoke. and for anyone that says only more educated people stop smoking get real lol. i know plenty of people that have probly higher degrees than most of us at fox and smoke.

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  16. It's not like we smoke in the class rooms. We are forced to go outside in the cold,rain, and snow already. This is not East Germany. If you think smokers are going to walk all the way off the property to smoke you are crazier than Bill O'Reilly.

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  17. I feel that the area outside of the Emeritus room in the courtyard, where smokers have always gone before, is acceptable to keep as a designated smoking area. If people don't want to be around second hand smoke, there are plenty of other options around campus to find a place outdoors away from the smoke (like the underutilized CAC areas). As far as a gazebo is concerned, I don't think it's necessary. I'm a smoker and although I'd love a nice comfy place to smoke in the winter, it's also nice that the harsh winter conditions cut gown on my habit! If people want to smoke in the winter they can suffer for it :).
    Also, I hate how some smokers make our campus look by throwing their butts on the ground and I also understand that many people are bothered by smokers in the doorways. We already fine people for parking in the wrong place, isn't it plausible to also fine people for not respecting the campus smoking rules? Smoking should remain on campus in the courtyard, but the smokers should respect others and our campus by staying in that area and being responsible for their trash!

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  18. Smokers pay more taxes than any student through sin taxes which help pay for schools in this state. We have payed for our ashtrays and other receptacles. If anything non-smokers should have to cater to us. We can't smoke in a business's or public facilities inside ANYWHERE. Now the radical non smokers want to deny us the ability to even smoke outside. What if we had a smoking section on the roof? Any complaints then or do you want us to go to the moon to smoke? I CANNOT BELIEVE WE HAVE TO FIGHT TO SMOKE OUTSIDE, ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS. You arrogant dicks don't care about a large portion of students. Personally I could care less if people don't like the smell. I don't like the body order of people who are so fat they sweat cheese curds but no one dares to tell these heifers go in the bath room stalls to eat because it's disgusting to watch. Some people are worried about second hand smoke, I am worried about second hand anorexia. People over 300 pounds make me never want to eat again. Cigarettes are not nearly as big of a problem as obesity in this country so why don't we ban all junk food as well? You wanna know why? Because it is politically incorrect to pick on glutenous people but it's OK to pick on the unhealthy smokers.

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  19. It shouldnt be smoke free. If a person doesnt want to be around cigarette smoke they can either move to a different area or go inside. The restrictions are ridiculous. We live in a free society, we should be allowed to make our own decisions, however 'dumb' they may seem to others.

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  20. Bring back the smoking room on campus. Those where the days!

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  21. smokers are still going to smoke right outside the doors no matter what happens.

    then those clerks (you know, the ones that our tuition pays for) that barely do anything will get some excersize walking back and forth to the doors to yell at us. Sounds good to me! at least we'll be paying them for doing something!

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  22. Just a few designated areas that are out of the way of normal foot traffic would be great for smokers. I know no smoking is allowed right by the doors, but few of them listen it seems.... and it is horrible having to walk through that crap just to get in the building.

    If the above proposition is not followed and there are many complaints in ayears time, ban it all together.

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  23. Are you sure those "clerks" are paid for by tuition?

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  24. ugh, this shouldn't even be an issue. wisconsin is supposed to be "smoke-free", shouldn't that include universities which are funded by the state? also, smoking is prohibited on the grounds of every school below college level, why should it be different now that the student body is old enough to provide themselves with cancer sticks and cancer causing second-hand smoke for the onlookers of the aforementioned activity?

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  25. I realize there are a large amount of smokers out there in the world. However, if bars have banned smoking so should UW Fox. Most people who go to UW Fox commute and only have the longest of a 3 hour class. I would hope they can go that long without a cigarette. If not, then I would say go to the sidewalk or somewhere far from campus.

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  26. Lets ban smoking on campus. While we're at it, lets get rid of our parking lots. Cars are bad for the environment. Also, lets get rid of that cafeteria so people can stop eating the world's greasiest food.

    Instead of trying to see something from someone else's perspective, I instead wish to grandstand and tell people what they should and shouldn't do. /sarcasm

    Or I can realize that people are going to smoke wherever they'd like outside the building. Think anybody is going to walk to some gazebo a football field away? And who do you really think is going to enforce a smoking ban? I understand the intentions, but the idea of banning smoking on campus is wildly impractical.

    I mean, you pull this crap for anything at campus, seriously anything, from the parking and cafeteria examples I gave earlier to the: "I don't like the hallways being filled with 'Vote for me!' tables, but I have to live with them in order to get to class."

    "I'm offended by the naked body paintings I see in the hallways. How can we allow such inappropriate things at school!?"

    "The library has a book about illegal drugs that anybody can check out. What is this, UW-Anarchy!?"

    This school is not solely about you.

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  27. I personally do not smoke, but as long as it is outside, I dont care if people do. I think that to many of peoples rights are being taken away. People who dont like the smoke, dont stand so close to the people who are. UW Fox has enough outside space for both people to coexist. If we MUST take it away, lets at least just have a designated area, but I think they sould be able to smoke where ever they want as long as its out side and they dispose of the butts in the right way.

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  28. I think that all of the current smoking arrangements are perfectly acceptable. The one exception would be smoking outside the emeritus room.

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  29. It's hard to say what's right or wrong in this issue. Some people believe they have the right to smoke, and others feel they have the right to not be around smokers. As far as "funding" an area for smokers, the idea seems a bit dumbfounding. The area is already there, already payed for, and it does no damage for smokers to be out there. If you would like to argue environment, please exert passion to over-sized parking lot with no bicycle racks nor sidewalks that make UW Fox a pedestrian friendly campus.

    Non smokers believe that smokers are dumb, because they spend money on a drug called Nicot(ine), which happens to be an all natural drug, same as Caffe(ine), and actually that's pretty true.

    Would i like to see motorcycles with mufflers because they make way too much noise and they disrupt my studies?
    Would i like to see all deep fried foods taken out of our cafeteria? And while we're at it, sodas and MuscleMilk, and other varieties of High Fructose Corn Syrup?
    Would i like to see more naked drawings in the Hallways?
    Would i like to see smokers stop being arrogant, and non-smokers stop being ignorant? Smokers know what they are smoking, you can probably turn off your truth.org television channel.
    Would i like to learn math from someone that understands what level i am at?
    Would i like to learn science without the "theory" part?
    Would i like to stop hearing every professors philosophy on life? except for the philosophy teachers because they are pretentious with "knowledge" and how in the end "life means nothing."

    This is public education. This is what we pay for, and it's a good education if you apply yourself. There are a lot of people that think they are gaining brownie points by blogging how cigarettes are bad for you like they are the next group of graduating lobbyists.

    Problem solved:
    Put up more naked pictures.
    Open classroom windows.
    Next time you believe you are a smart architect, build rooms with windows, we should be disqualified for offering any creative resources (no wonder God doesn't exist).
    Start serving healthy food.
    Make UW Fox a pedestrian friendly campus.
    Please teach the United States Constitution, the part that reads the "freedom of speech" does not mean the "right to be offended."

    Smokers: stop being mean to people. Put out your cigarettes when asked or move.

    Non-smokers: find a vice and get over yourself. Talk to smokers like they are not stupid, and have respect for ones choices.

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  30. Yawn, who cares. The campus does what they want anyway.

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  31. I'm so tired of all the dilemmas relating to smoking and I don't smoke. There are far worse "pollutants" in our environment. Let's all go swim in the gulf if you want to talk about pollution! Just standing next to it will put oil chemicals in our bodies. Go clean the oil off the animal instead of using time for this issue. Really, in the grand scheme of life and everything going on in our country, how ridiculous is this? Our service people fighting a war; our homeless and starving, etc. Why not fight for something like that? Smoking outside is good enough. If you see someone out there with a cigarette and don't like it, take another exit. Some probably need the exercise given the obese epidemic in our country. I just got back from a state where people have handguns (law abiding citizens) in their homes and businesses because criminals will walk right in and just start shooting. A friend of mine had a daughter (10 years old) who was kidnapped by a pedophile, brutally raped and then murdered and dumped at a dump site. There you have it - the grand scheme of things. Stop wasting your efforts on something so trivial and fight for a good cause such as following pedophiles so they don't repeat and repeat. If someone chooses to smoke, that's their health choice and those around them have the choice not to be around them. Stop whining about trivial things like this and find something better to do with your time that will benefit communities. You can't control a smoker if they don't want to quit. They'll find somewhere near campus to smoke no matter what.

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  32. No, it should not be smoke free. All you are going to create is people breaking the rules. Smokers do not smoke inside, so therefore the non-smokers are not subjected to it. There should be conveniet designated locations that smokers can use during class breaks and still be on time to class and a bench or somewhere in the quad with some scenary. We have the same rights as non-smokers and pay the same amount of money to go there.

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  33. And for everyone posting about bars and waiting until class is over...You can smoke outside bars that's why they build beer gardens and some of us take more than one class. If you don't like it don't come near us and yes please leave us an ashtray.

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  34. One possible compromise is to have a designated smoking area away from entrances and certainly away for the patio area outside of Union. The area outside of the Union is the only decent outdoor dining area and the majority of non-smokers should not have to endure smoke if they want to eat outside. As for people planning to transfer to other institutions--most of them are restricting smoking as well and you would need to walk further to smoke on these campuses than you would need to walk to the parking lot or sidewalk at Fox. It is heartening to know that so many students can afford to transfer to more expensive institutions just for the privilege of being able to smoke a few feet closer to campus (though, I guess if you can afford to smoke, you have plenty of money). And here we thought that low tuition/fees and quality of instruction and extracurricular opportunities for freshmen and sophomores was the reason people enrolled at Fox. Now we know it was our permissive smoking policy.

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  35. Smoke em' if you got em'! Whats next? Banning caffeine & energy drinks. The poor students are all "banned out". I remember when you could smoke & drink alcohol in the art room and I turned out just fine.

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  36. Someone suggested to me that if there is a smoking area for smokers that the smokers themselves maintain it themselves as in keep it clean. If the University has to take the responsibility of keeping the smokers are clean then smoking would be banned from the campus.

    I truly do not comprehend how smoking can possibly be considered the same as consuming an energy drink or fatty fried foods. Smoking is not an activity that effects only the individual, it effects everyone. The comparison is not valid.

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  37. The issue here is students rights. Big brother is just trying to strip you sheeple of another choice. I do not smoke cigarettes. (I smoke marijuana to ease chronic pain.) Smokers are people and have rights. If you don't like cigarette smoke, then DON'T smoke! Melissa: How does people smoking OUTSIDE "effect everyone"? I truly feel sorry for your generation & my college aged kids. Just keep letting big brother tell you what to do, and keep being obedient! Pretty soon they will want to install a chip into your body for your "well being". Question authority.

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  38. i am asthmatic and even being near someone whos smoking is very troubling to me. i would love to be able to spend time in the area outside the emeritus room as i feel it would be a relaxing place to sit and just hang out with your friends.. although it is not worth an asthma attack. i think the campus should be smoke free. students can go off campus to smoke or far enough away from the school where it does not bother the other students because i am sure there are others out there like me who physically cannot be near it. second hand smoke causes health risks and since we are trying to become more healthy a smoke free campus would be an excellent start.

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  39. Part I.

    America has always had a conflict between its puritanical and libertarian influences.
    This continues to present day. Sugary drinks in plastic bottles are OK—pure water in plastic bottles are bad and we must be prohibited from buying them. Paintings of nudes are art—photos of nudes are pornography and we must be prohibited from viewing them. Smoking is yet another battle in this conflict.

    Yet there are differences with smoking—smoking affects not just the smoker, but non-smokers as well. It is interesting to note that many of those who take a libertarian stance in opposition to smoking bans, take a decidedly less libertarian, indeed a collectivist stance, when it comes to paying for the health related costs of smoking. Smokers are advocates of liberty up until the time their smoking makes them ill—then the same people who talk of their “right” to smoke, apparently also feel that they have a “right” to other people’s money to pay for their health care costs. You can’t have it both ways. Smoking affects everyone, not just those who smoke.

    “Smoking is a “right””—
    Whether a substance is legal, is entirely up to legislative and administrative bodies. The same legislative and administrative bodies that have declared smoking to be legal, can also determine when, where and at what age it may be consumed. Those that permit activities, can also abridge the “right” to engage in those activities. The fact that something is legal, does not mean that you have the “right” to consume it whenever and wherever you choose.

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  40. Part II.

    “People will just go somewhere else to smoke”—
    So because people may go somewhere else to smoke, it shouldn’t be prohibited anywhere? If something is permitted somewhere it should be permitted everywhere? “If we prohibit students from having sex in the classroom, they’ll just go somewhere else” . We should lower our standards to the most permissive anywhere? Let others captain our ship? Shouldn’t we determine our policies based on what is right, not what is done by others ?

    “We should compromise”---
    Often compromise provides the best of both sides in the debate and can often be fashioned to be relatively beneficial to all involved. But sometimes compromise doesn’t work. This country for years tried to compromise on the issue of slavery, for example. Compromises permitted slavery in some areas, but not others. Slavery was a legal enterprise after all, and if people didn’t like slavery—well then they shouldn’t own one, but they shouldn’t impose their morality on others. Some things don’t lend themselves to compromise. To allow smoking anywhere on campus is to condone and enable a practice that is the leading preventable cause of death in America. It costs millions in health care costs. How can an institution whose purpose is to promote knowledge—in a year in which “wellness” is the campus theme, justify permitting smoking anywhere on campus?

    “ We should build a gazebo or other area for smokers”—
    Why should the campus do anything or spend any money to enable, sanction and promote something so decidedly unhealthy to those who participate? Should the campus also purchase razor blades for students who wish to cut themselves? “Hey Wisconsin taxpayers—we are broke and need your money—but we have money to build an area to assist people in harming themselves”.

    “We should phase a no smoking policy in rather than do it now”—
    No one is forcing smokers to quit. All that is being proposed is that people not be permitted to produce second hand smoke on campus grounds. No counseling or withdrawal treatments are necessary. Smokers will smoke right up until the date of the ban and then they will either quit or smoke somewhere else. If this policy isn’t in place by the start of the semester, it will be that much more difficult to enforce. Habits and patterns need to be established immediately for all of our new students—the majority of our students every fall. Why should this measure for positive health be postponed. If not the year of “wellness”, then when? This is inevitable—why postpone enactment? This campus and most others will eventually be smoke free. Fox can either be a leader or a laggard in promoting good health.

    Smoking kills. The answer to the question of where or not to make the campus smoke free is obvious and everyone knows that the answer is “yes.

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  41. It has been suggested that there be a "vote" on this issue.
    Should Alabama, Arkansa, Georgia, and other southern states have been permitted to decide whether to desegregate schools by a referendum?
    How can a referedum determine exactly who can smoke where and what penalties and enforcement policies should be. This issue should be resolved by thoughtful discussion. Complex issues don't lend themsleves to simple votes by an uninformed public.

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  42. Not everyone drives, but you don't see bikers on here complaining about those of us who do. Oh, but car exhaust affects us all! Lets ban the use of combustion engine vehicles on campus too, then we can all freeze our asses of in the winter.
    Or you could stop being hypocrites.
    Perhaps we should start considering our own individual actions and their worth (or lack thereof) instead of focusing on those actions we find dissatisfactory in others.

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  43. I don't think this campus should be smoke free and it is fine the way it is. At our workplace, they have already tried to enforce rules and it hasn't worked out so well. We're supposed to walk all the way to our cars or walk off property to smoke. And considering 15 minute breaks and having to park at the far end of the parking lot, uhmm, not so much. Even though there is a smoking ban in Wisconsin, nothing has changed. I still see people smoking everywhere. If they are serious about banning smoking in public, mine as well ban selling ciggarettes/tobacco first.

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  44. Student Association could help make Fox a leader in promoting progressive, healthy lifestyles or the can be a laggard and hang on to an increasingly obsolete policy. Be forward looking. Encourage a smoke free campus. You will be representing the majority of students who choose not to smoke.

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  45. Jim Perry, Campus Executive Officer and DeanAugust 3, 2010 at 1:56 PM

    I have received the unanimmous recommendation of the UWFox Steering Committee that the current policy that allows smoking in the Courtyard outside the campus union be amended to include that area as a non-smoking area. Steering Committee membership includes the Student Association President, who was there and represented the concerns of the SA. I am approving that recommendation. Their recommendation indicated that this should take place “prior to the start of the fall semester.” Accordingly, this change will take place immediately.

    In addition, the current Steering Committee is recommending to the 2010-11 Steering Committee that consideration of an all campus smoking ban be discussed broadly in the fall semester, including discussion by the Fox Student Association and Fox Collegium.

    I am requesting that the following take place:

    1. Removal of smoking-related receptacles from the courtyard (Buildings and Grounds, within a week)
    2. Creation of a two-sided poster to be placed in the window opposite the Campus Bookstore indicating that the courtyard is a non-smoking area, and the locations of designated smoking areas (Juli McGuire, within a week)
    3. Modification of the written Fox Policy (Juli McGuire, ASAP)
    4. Creation of sandwich boards to be places at the curbs by all entrances indicating “No Smoking Beyond This Point” (Buildings and Grounds, ASAP, but absolutely before classes resume.)

    The campus community will engage in further discussion about this issue in the fall semester.

    Dean Perry

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  46. Sad that this isn't a total ban.
    Making the courtyard smoke free is at least a small positive step.

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  47. If you want no smoking, then there should be No Drinking...what about the portable bars that are set up in the building for functions that serve...and, after the people are done drinking on campus..they jump in their vehicles and drive home! Now...what is more of a health risk. I'll bet that most of you people that are anti smokers drink....and, that can potentially hurt all the loved ones around you in a slow, hurtful, life-sucking way. The designated areas were just fine...

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  48. Have you ever become intoxicated from "second hand drinking"? There is a distinction between drinking and smoking. Drinking in excess and then driving certainly increases the possibility of an accident. Having a glass of wine or beer or a cocktail an hour or more before driving does not significantly increase danger on the roads. Additionally, I do not see the area around the "portable bars" to which you refer, littered with empty cans, bottles and glasses. Smokers toss their cigarette butts on the ground and out of car windows rather than disposing of them properly. Talk to someone from buildings and grounds sometime about the mess caused by smokers.

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  49. first of all no. bars did not ban smoking in fact they suffered a great loss of business due to the smoking ban which non smokers proposed and won only because the smokers were too lazy to vote or didnt know where to vote.

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  50. i think the way it is now is fine. a shelter may not be necessary but wouldnt hurt the smokers, and since people are selfishly worried about their selves and health why not at least a shelter for smoking maybe even heated in the winter and cooled in the summer... and the people that wanna complain about the annoyance and inconvenience of people smoking to them i would like to add a complaint about peoples little kids running around the cafeteria and e room and such that i almost trip over that is a real health risk as well added stress to my stressed smoking heart and maybe even broken bones when someone gets hurt tripping on a little kid not to mention the stress of being subjected to them while they ridicule smokers and give them dirty looks... and the stress of their annoying music and toxic perfumes and colognes and animal tested products in there hair all that stress right there is just another nail in the coffin so we all may as well show up to uw fox valley completely naked with an apple a bottle of water and a wheel barrel for all our stuff so we dont hurt our backs either

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  51. and lets be realistic.. those clothes and shoes your wearing made in china which is single handedly destroying the environment right now are not good for your lungs either all that factory smog will account for something like the melting of the glaciers in greenland and the polar ice caps.. or any of the number of things you own made in third world countries sweat shops by little kids... unless you only want to save your selves.. admirable..

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  52. smoking outside is good enough and if not i think the school must allow the use of e cigs which they could also profit from selling, a very healthy compromise.. but the ecig should be allowed either way because there is no second hand smoke or any smoke period.. or allow the smoking outside and the profits made from selling the e cig as a healthier alternative could be used to pay for the designated regular cigarette smoking areas... that sounds great to me.. its unjust to take away one freedom without at least a compromise.. which should be decided by all the smokers if they loose their right which right they choose to take away being watever stressors they dont like in the school environment even though attacking the smokers outside is going out of the school environment

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  53. the ecig is not illegal by law to use anywhere. no smoke no carcinogens just vapor and vapor evaporates quite rapidly harming no one.

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  54. If the smoking ban was so bad for tavern and bar business, why are there more bars then ever on College Avenue? The number of bars actually increased after the smoking ban and one certainly did not see an increase in comparable establishments in Menasha which until the state ban went into effect, remained smoke free. In short, people prefer to be in non-smoking establishments. The overwhelming majority of people are non-smokers.

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  55. Beginning July 5, 2010, smoking will be prohibited in enclosed public places and workplaces, publicly or privately owned, including taverns and restaurants. Smoking is defined as the burning or holding, or inhaling or exhaling smoke from a lighted cigarette, cigar, pipe, or any other lighted smoking equipment. A public place is a place open to the public, regardless of whether a fee is charged, or a place the pub­lic has lawful access or may be invited. A place of employment is any indoor place that employees normally frequent during the course of employment. That includes an office, work area, employee lounge, a restroom, a conference or meet­ing room, a classroom, or a hallway.
    Where in any of this does it state smokers are not allowed to smoke outside....someone please tell me. Why is there need for discussion? Smokers should all be respectable and not smoke by the doorways and that is all that I feel needs to be done

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  56. We have designated smoking areas for a reason, ever one knows where they are and if some one has an issue walking by a little smoke, well they should USE A DIFFERENT DOOR THERE ARE SEVERAL!!!

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  57. I definitely think that, for this topic especially, we should all attempt to find some sort of happy medium. I understand that there are many people who attend Fox Valley that find smoking repulsive and would like to have nothing to do with it. However, there are also others who use smoking to ground themselves when they feel frazzled. College isn't easy and we are all trying to find things to make it as stress free as possible. Nevertheless, i almost feel like allowing people to smoke on the campus is selfish in a way because its forcing others to endure it. I strongly believe that there should be designated smoking area for those trying to unwind with a cigarette. That way, everybody is at least somewhat happy in the end.

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  58. I think there should be a designated area for those who smoke. Our school has many nonsmoker and children; therefore, this method will be best for both.

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  59. My following comments are not meant to be condemming towards people who do smoke, nor are they meant to convince non-smokers to remain silent about the issue, because it is an issue we seem to face daily around campus, smoker or non-smoker.

    That said I do want to say that I am not a smoker, nor do I plan to be. It's not a matter of me being better than others or a good role model, although if my lifestyle can be used as a tool to help other people for the better than so be it.

    I choose not to smoke mainly because of health reasons, plus I don't like the smell of it and I constantly cough when I am around it. I come from a non-smoking household so that has been a tremendous encouragement not to start. Also, like many of my friends around the campus area I am slightly more poor than I would like to be, so I really don't think that losing my hard-earned bucks to an addicting habit with eventual negative side effects is conducive to the free-spirited, fun future I envision myself having. Another thing is that I have seen various people in my life, from friends to older family members and so on, who have taken up smoking and I see how it has been taking a toll on them. I figure I don't want that for myself so I'm steering clear of that while I have the chance.

    In addition to these perhaps more selfish reasons for my own sake, I do it for the sake of others. I know that second hand smoke can do more harm than some of may be willing to admit. Part of my future involves raising my own family, and I don't want to cut my life, the life of my future wife, or my future children short by introducing smoking as an option, because that's just not fair.

    Regarding others: I have heard that it is very difficult to quit but I know it can be done. I have friends that smoke and I don't want to control them, but I do wish that they would quit. I'm a very selfish person and even if they don't want the extra years of their own life, I would gladly take them :)

    That being said, I think it is okay not to provide additional shelter/locations to smoke on campus. And now you know some of why, if anyone has a beef with what I have posted, you can have a rebuttal on here or find me in the hallway, but you shouldn't be upset with me wanting you to have a longer happier life. I'm just sayin. Till next time, adios

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  60. I dont see how its such a big deal, typically through my day i dont even run into any of the students who actually smoke, or if i do there not close enough to me where i smell or inhale any of it. I dont think we should restrict someones choice on what they want to do, whether it be bad nor good for themselves.

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  61. We are paying to be here, most of us barely skating by with bills to get a better education and better ourselves.
    That being said, making the school smoke-free would just cause more problems then the 'health benefits' would be. People feel like they have a right to be here, and do with what they want on their free time. We already have one exit segregated for smokers, and it is not a highly frequented entrance, most people do not enter through that wing.
    If we ban it, most people will not care, and will go outright against it. Keep it the way it is, if you don't want to be exposed to second hand smoke, don't use that exit.

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  62. The smoking ban sucks, and looks ridiculous with all the signs, ITS OUTSIDE! WE SHOULD NOT BE POLICED OUTSIDE! We've been told since kids to get along, yet people still complain over air they HAVE NO CONTROL OF! Good luck trying to enforce those borders....I don't think they will be followed as so.

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  63. I walk by people smoking outside the school every day only because it's the only way to get to my car, and although I feel they should have the right to do whatever they want, I also feel that those of us who don't want to smell the smoke or be overwhelmed by it should not have to walk through those areas to simply get to our cars.

    One comment above stated, "We are paying to be here, most of us barely skating by with bills to get a better education and better ourselves." If this is so, do you honestly have the money to go out and spend on cigarettes. It seems that if your education were truly that important to you your focus would be on it.

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  64. I've seen a decent amount of comments on here, stating wisconsin's "smoke free" policy, and the fact that restaurants and bars don't allow smoking. This point seemed to be used to express a desire to have our universities follow suit. But, I wonder if it had occurred to any of these people that the bars and restaurants do not restrict outside smoking, they only restrict it from the inside. They proved an ashtray or two outside, and that is the end of it. The university that we go to school in, however, has gone beyond that. It has decided, for the benefit of non-smokers, that it would also restrict outside smoking.

    I can understand the reasons for further restrictions on smoking on campus, but I do not agree with how it has been executed. If the point is for non-smokers to have the ability to get into the building without "walking through a cloud of smoke", then it makes little sense to make a doorway off of the 1300 wing smoker's only convenient area for outside smoking. It concentrates all of the smokers in one area, making it much worse for those who enter the building at that door.

    Also, I think it would help us to think about what sort of neighbors u.w. fox has. There is a children's center, and a school, beyond the 1300 wing. I do not feel that a large group of smokers is something I would like children to have to see.

    For the benefit of those non-smokers who need to use the 1300 wing doors, and for the children who have little to no visual barrier between them and the smokers on the u.w. fox campus, I think it would be best if we would designate the courtyard outside the emeritus room as a smoking area.

    Though there are doors that lead into the building from the courtyard, they require you to go past the 1300 and science wing doors, and through a row of hedges, in order to reach them from the parking lot. The courtyard is not best suited as an entrance, so non-smokers would not have to walk through a crowd of smokers in order to gain entrance to the building, as they currently have to do, at the 1300 wing.

    Also, the courtyard provides more privacy from children. The row of hedges at the end of the courtyard provides a barrier between the smokers and the children's center. The children who use the emeritus room can use it with the blinds closed. The blinds don't cut out the light, anyway, so it should not be a problem to do so.

    Non-smokers have all of the CAC outdoor spots, for their outdoor enjoyment. They have the new courtyard, outside of the gallery, and the small seating area near the north lot. That should be enough room for them. It is unfair to restrict the smokers from being able to have seating, while they smoke. Especially since the seating already exists on campus. I am not asking for more money to be spent.

    Smoking would be better designated in the courtyard outside of the emeritus room. It is private, it is away from major entrances, and it provides seating.

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