The IUS Civil Liberties Union met Oct. 1 to discuss the possible tobacco reinforcement changes.
Julie Bland, president of the IUS CLU, opened the floor up at for discussion at the meeting about the proposed changes to reinforce the tobacco-free policy currently in place.
James Bonsall, Student Government Association president, said they want to have a three-strike policy
He also discussed some of the other proposed punishments such as having a security guard who would be there only to enforce the policy, picking up cigarette butts and issuing fines.
Tobacco-free cigarettes were questioned as well as the rights of students. Some people said that picking up cigarette butts would not be healthy and could cause the student embarrassment.
Bonsall said he has heard more faculty members complain about the tobacco-free policy than students.
“I’ve heard from students it’s excessive,” he said.
Kevin Coleman, treasurer of the IUS CLU, voiced his own concerns about the proposals.
Coleman brought up that most people have been compliant, and wanted to know why they are pushing to have such tight enforcements.
Coleman said he wondered why why there is such a strong reaction to the issue.
Smoking, in the past, on campus has not caused problems for some students, even though they choose not to smoke.
“The majority of people don’t have a problem with it, so long as it’s outside,” Bonsall said.
Not everyone who attended the meeting felt the tobacco-free enforcement was a bad thing.
“They are just going to enforce the policy they already have,” Amanda Watson, business and Spanish senior, said. “I thought that it wasn’t a big deal to enforce policy, but they made it seem like a big deal.”
Even though there were some opposing views on the smoking ban, some of the members said they hoped to reach a compromise between the people who oppose smoking on campus and those who choose to smoke.
Some people offered alternatives such as making designated smoking areas for students on campusthat would be far away from buildings, or sell smoking passes to generate money.
“I definitely feel that there is room for both sides to compromise on the ban,” Bland said. “I feel that they should both be open to compromising, to be able to enforce, as well as have something to appease smokers a little more than keeping them in the car.
“I definitely feel like they should at least try to contact those who are in charge — maybe write letters to the chancellor, send her e-mails, maybe just find a way to get their opinions heard either way they feel about it,” she said.
Tom Kotulak, faculty advisor for the IUS CLU and pre-law adviser, said the IUS students are the citizens of the 21st century.
“Becoming active and involved in local issues gives them kind of a test run when they get ready to exercise their broader freedoms in the larger community,” Kotulak said. “Hopefully, an institution of higher education would give them that opportunity to be involved; to become familiar with [a proposed policy], involved in it and want to be engaged.”
Kotulak said he wishes people did not choose to smoke, but they are an easy target because people know smoking is not healthy.
“I hope all parties involved assume folks are trying to do things in good faith. In other words, I think it’s a good idea for people who oppose the ban to assume that the [administrators] who push it are well-intentioned,” he said. “On the other hand, I believe administrators who are well-intentioned probably ought to see that people who would like to exercise a privilege to smoke somewhere on campus are not being unreasonable and just trying to create a ruckus, that’s not what they are trying to do.”
By KATHERINE
PITTELKO
Staff Writer
kpittelk@ius.edu