MSA tables smoking bill
Published Nov. 2, 2007
The Missouri Students Association Senate tabled a resolution on Wednesday that supported banning smoking on campus both indoors and outdoors.
Traci Harr, president of the MU chapter of Peers Against Secondhand Smoke, and MSA President Rachel Anderson introduced the resolution.
The resolution was created out of inconsistencies between the M-Book, MU's student policy handbook, and Business Policy and Procedure, MU's faculty policy handbook, Harr said.
The M-Book states that smoking is not allowed inside any university building, but the Business Policy and Procedure states there should be a smoking section if possible and smoking could be allowed in semi-private offices. Smoking in offices is not practiced, and PASS wants the policies to agree, Harr said.
"The chancellor put together a smoking policy task force to consider policies on campus," Harr said.
The task force recommendations have not been released yet.
Recommendations made in the resolution included prohibiting smoking both indoors and outdoors on campus and at university-sponsored events. The resolution also calls for clear signs that mark non-smoking areas, student education, quitting services and prohibition of tobacco advertising and sales on campus.
The Senate tabled the bill because the argument became stale, and the problems could not be resolved at that time, Harr said.
Harr said the next resolution will favor a phase-out approach that would eventually lead to no smoking on campus.
The resolution also seeks help at the Student Health Center for students that would like to quit and an environment where that can be possible because people see greater success in non-smoking environments, Harr said.