Ashtrays soon will be a relic of bygone days at Washington University as all of the institution’s campuses move toward the implementation of a complete smoking and tobacco ban in July 2010.

The decision to prohibit smoking and the use of all tobacco-related products on University property was announced last April by the administration, which framed the ban as a public health initiative intended to reduce the effects of secondhand smoke.

“We’re not passing judgment on what you should or should not do,” said Jill Carnaghi, associate vice chancellor for students and dean of campus life. “We’re saying on our campus we want as healthy an environment as possible.”

Carnaghi’s sense is that most undergraduates agree with the ban. But she feels many who supported it were nonetheless frustrated that the University made the decision without taking student input into account.

“I think there was a good number that didn’t like the way the decision was made,” Carnaghi said. “They were upset with how the process went in the decision, rather than the decision itself.”

Senior Tom Aylmer was one such student angry with how the University implemented the ban.

“The people who implemented it didn’t give the students any say in the decision process,” Aylmer said. “I’d like them to at least inform the students as to how they made the decision, what kind of research they did. They should address why they didn’t give the students any consideration.”

Student Union (SU) also decried the lack of student involvement in the administration’s decision. Last April, SU passed a resolution requesting that the administration reconsider the ban after hearing students’ opinions on the matter.

Although the University is not currently planning to reevaluate its decision, Carnaghi is leading a committee of around 12 undergraduates in the coming year that will offer student input to the administration concerning the ban and its implementation.

“We’ll pull together a committee to identify what are the issues, what are the concerns and then how do we as a group—which is made up of a lot of students, some I hope to be smokers and some not—move forward with this in a realistic way,” Carnaghi said.

The committee likely will include representatives from student groups that may be affected most by the ban, such as international students from cultures more permissive of smoking.

Carnaghi said the committee also will work to engage the broader undergraduate population through open forums for students to express their opinions.

The administration has created separate committees for working with the rest of the University population. The faculty and staff committee is headed by Alan Glass, director of Student Health Services, and Brad Freeman, associate professor of surgery, while the graduate and professional students committee is headed by Sheri Notaro, associate dean in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.

At present, while the University carries forth with its plans, many students continue to express mixed opinions about the ban.

Junior Adeetee Bhide is allergic to tobacco and has been hospitalized for coughing fits after inhaling secondhand smoke. Despite her sensitivity to tobacco, she said she is still able to see both sides of the issue.

“I’m glad that I’ll be able to do my homework outside without having to worry about people smoking, but I do understand that it’ll be a big inconvenience for people who do smoke,” Bhide said.

Bhide has to hold her breath when she walks past the entrances to Olin Library and Seigle Hall, where smokers often congregate. Several times, she said, she has had to relocate from doing work outside after a smoker lit up a cigarette.

Still, she feels that banning smoking altogether on campus is an unnecessary step.

“I think a better compromise would be to have designated smoking areas,” Bhide said.

1 Comments

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  On July 22, 2009 at 10:01 pm Adam said

  It's about time. I remember there were big steps made to designate areas as “smoke-free” such as around the entrance to Olin and other building areas, yet this had little to no effect. Many people also disregard cigarette butts as biodegradable leftovers, but they sit around, look disgusting, and require someone bending over to the ground to clean them up. If you want to take your dog to the park and clean up after him, that's you prerogative. It is not right for the smokers who do toss their butts on the ground to just forget about them and worry about someone else picking them up. Of course there are the smokers who do make an effort to be clean and stay away from others while smoking. I do appreciate the actions they've taken, but ultimately it comes down to what is realistically happening and what is best for the overall campus.

  What this article failed to mention that others in the past had was the University's initiative to help people quit smoking with quitting programs. The savings to the school's healthcare system by having less smokers (less colds, asthma, high blood pressure, other sicknesses) easily outweigh the cost of any quitting programs.

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Tags: Administration, jill carnaghi, student input, Student Union, tobacco, tobacco ban

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