Administrators to review Task Force resolution

By Ettie Berneking

Published Nov. 27, 2007

Students looking to light up in a warm doorway this winter might find themselves looking for another place to smoke.

Jim Levin, a member of the Campus Smoking Policy Task Force, said the committee drafted a resolution and presented it to Vice Chancellor for Administrative Services Jackie Jones. Levin declined to comment on the content of the resolution, but he said a response could be expected from Jones soon.

MU's smoking policy has been revised once since it was created in 1988, but the current policy is expected to change in upcoming weeks, he said.

Michael Devaney, Faculty Council Student Affairs Committee chairman, reported on the status of the campus smoking policy on Nov. 15 as part of his committee report.

"It's likely to be a compromise because of the need to be self-enforcing," he said. "There simply aren't enough resources to enforce any kind of smoking policy."

Missouri Students Association President Rachel Anderson, former president of Peers Against Secondhand Smoke, said the current policy is inconsistent.

"There are two policies right now," Anderson said. "We want to make sure there's one clear, unified policy."

In the M-Book, the university rulebook produced by the Department of Student Life, smoking is prohibited in all buildings operated or leased by MU. In the Business Policy and Procedure Manual, smoking is prohibited except in designated areas, including portions of dining halls, residence halls, cafeterias and private offices.

Across the nation, universities are taking steps toward smoke-free campuses. The American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation released a list of schools that will be smoke-free as of Oct. 1.

The list includes Des Moines University, Minnesota State University, the University of Minnesota and University of California at San Francisco.

"This is a popular trend with other universities," Anderson said.

When Columbia instituted a ban on smoking in public buildings on Jan. 9, a number of local business owners complained about the effects the ban would have on their business.

At the city council meeting in October 2006, when the ban was passed in a 4-3 vote, owners of bars, restaurants and clubs were among the 60 speakers who waited in line to speak.

In order to get an idea of how students felt about the proposed ban, Jones created the Campus Smoking Policy Task Force last fall.

Last year, the committee held forums that allowed students to voice their opinion on the university smoking policy. Anderson said most students who showed up were in favor for the smoking ban, but he noted that this might not represent the entire student body.

But Anderson said a PASS petition in support of restricting on-campus smoking didn't gather enough signatures. She said students at the forums also said a smoking ban might be an infringement on their rights.

Levin said the task force also surveyed 9,000 students on the campus smoking policy. He declined to comment about the overall results.