IUS students participating in the smoke-out protest against the campus-wide smoking ban got a little more than they bargained for on Thursday, Oct. 29.
Students gathered in McCullough Plaza to smoke either tobacco or non-tobacco cigarettes during the lunch rush.
During the protest, several local news channels and newspapers reported on the event, along with protestors against tobacco use and an evangelical group to discuss religious beliefs.
The smoke-out protest comes after proposals to increase the penalties for smoking on campus were discussed at an Executive Council meeting on Sept. 21.
“We’re asking the campus to enforce the smoking ban pragmatically,” Ian Girdley, English sophomore, said.
After a speech by Girdley clarifying the goal of the protest, students were allowed to participate in smoking on campus in the grassy area next to McCullough Plaza in respect of not getting smoke in people’s walking area.
“We’re respectively offering campus and community awareness” Girdley said. “It’s a call to logic.”
The group offered an area where cigarettes could be extinguished as an example of their desired compromise with the smoking ban.
The smoke-out protest began as a conversation in the parking lot between Girdley and other IUS students a couple months ago, which is the only location where students can smoke on campus.
“We wrote letters to the board with no response informing them about what we had in mind,” Girdley said.
Girdley got a response from the offices after several letters making the students aware of the positives and negatives of their plans for the protest held on campus.
Students participating the smoke-out protest voiced their desire to have a compromise between the smoking ban and their right to smoke.
“I believe we deserve a permanent designated area, where we won’t be littering,” Robert Perry, psychology sophomore, said. “We can smoke anywhere else, why not on campus?”
Protestors of smoking came to campus to voice their opinion about the ban after hearing about the scheduled protest on the radio.
Jamey Aebersold, of New Albany, came to protest in lieu of the cigarette company’s force on the public with an addictive product.
“I applaud the ban,” Aebersold said, “but you are dealing with an addiction and people will protest.”
Aebersold disagreed with the idea that the students’ rights have been compromised by the stricter smoking ban.
He said the students’ rights were compromised by the cigarette companies’ use of advertisement and
persuasion to get people to become addicted to their product.
During the scheduled 30-minute protest, two men came to McCullough Plaza to voice their religious opinions to students.
Holding a banner, the duo responded with the group of students, who questioned the men and held an argument for the duration of the smoke-out.
Girdley said many students have supported the idea of the smoke-out. He also said they have given him positive feedback about the organized protest on campus.
Girdley said there will be a meeting with the IU Southeast Board of Trustees about the smoking ban at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, and considered arranging a protest at the campus in light of the meeting.
By JESSICA MEYER
Staff Writer
jessmeye@ius.edu