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Campus transitions to Designated Smoking Areas

September 10, 2010

by Natalie Baker

 

You’ve seen the signs, or at least what’s left of them. You’ve heard the grumbling. Maybe you’re even one of the many pen-armed saboteurs who’ve left their mischievous mark on DSA tables. Or perhaps you just like being able to walk from the library to Howard sans the secondhand smoke extravaganza that was commonplace on the Lewis & Clark campus until two weeks ago.

Regardless of your stance on the matter, LC implemented a major shift in its official attitude towards smoking tobacco on August 23, and it started with a survey. In the spring of 2009 a Task Force on Substance Use and Abuse - formed in 2008 by Dean of Students, Celestino Limas and Health Promotion and Wellness Coordinator, Melissa Osmond - turned to LC’s broader community with a survey asking folks what their preferences were regarding the school’s smoking policy.

From there, they recommended to the school’s Executive Council that our campus move gradually to being completely smoke-free, with designated smoking areas (DSAs) being the first step.

This proposal illicited concern, not only from the Executive Council, who chose instead to implement DSAs without the required move to a smoke free campus, but also from ASLC, who issued an official resolution in November of 2009 asking the administration to enforce its existing 25-foot law before implementing even stricter rules. And so, with the necessary approval, the focus turned to implementation tactics. E-mails and posters went out, advertising forums and asking students for their input. “We quickly realized that what we had suggested was too far flung” said Osmond.
The seven proposed DSAs were increased to 14, and instead of positioning tables on the outskirts of campus, DSAs were put in strategic locations that “respected the concerns of non-smokers… but also having smoking areas that were attractive enough to smokers that they would use them” said John Hancock, Director of Wellness Services.

“I think the DSAs are working pretty well,” said Chris Khatami (’12). After hours may be a different story, with a combination of impatience and safety concerns decreasing the appeal of walking to a DSA.

Jacqueline Hyatt (’12) said, “Why would I go all the way over to a DSA when it’s 2 a.m. at the library and nobody is around?”

Both Campus Safety and Associate Dean of Students Jeff Feld-Gore confirm that there have been no official reports of smoking, but some students tell another story.
“I smoke wherever I want to [including] on my way to class…” said Nicholas Hailey (’14) who was interviewed while seated at a DSA and posits that numerous other students break the rules without consequence. Calvin Flax (’14) had a different view of the DSAs, explaining that even though he dislikes the restriction of movement while smoking, “not knowing a lot of people, it’s nice to be able to come to the DSAs and just know you’re with other people who want to smoke with you.” Numerous other interviewed students echoed this observation of the DSAs becoming hangout spots, even for non-smokers.
Love it or hate it, the future of LC’s DSAs will rest on how effective they are judged to be over the next six months. Moving the campus towards becoming smoke-free is still an option, but as Hancock explains, “When? I don’t know.”