Task force to investigate smoking ban

Student smokers might soon have to leave campus to get their nicotine fix. In response to a proposal submitted by the Students' Smokefree Coalition, IU President Adam Herbert has assigned a task force to look into the possibility of making IU-Bloomington smoke-free, according to a letter sent to the coalition.\nDan Rives, associate vice president of University Human Resource Services, and Richard McKaig, dean of students, will put together the task force composed of representatives of student government, residence halls, faculty and employee groups, McKaig said.\nMcKaig and Rives headed the task force when the smoking policy was last changed in 2002, prohibiting smoking within 30 feet of campus buildings. The option of going completely smoke-free was discussed then but rejected.\n"As I recall, at the time there was a consensus to move forward but not to move forward to that level," he said. "Now we've had another three or four years and public opinion has broadened, so it could be time to take the next step."\nIn September, the newly founded Students' Smokefree Coalition submitted a nine-page proposal encouraging the administration to ban smoking on campus. \n"We are encouraged that the administration is taking this seriously and intends to take action on it in the next semester," said Donnie Morgan, president and founder of the Students' Smokefree Coalition.\nMcKaig and Rives will meet sometime after Thanksgiving to appoint other members of the task force, which will meet several times before making a \nrecommendation sometime during the spring semester. If Herbert decides to ban smoking on campus, he would likely do so starting either the summer or fall semester 2007, McKaig said.\nIU-Purdue University Indianapolis and IU-Southeast have already banned smoking on campus, Morgan said. Other universities across the country have also enacted similar bans.\n"This is going to happen eventually, so there is no reason for us to be left behind," Morgan said. \nThe coalition started off as the Facebook group "PLEASE ban smoking on IU's campus," but Bryce Wininger, vice president of the coalition, said the overwhelming response to the group -- now 1,200 members strong -- encouraged him and Morgan to try to do something about it.\n"We realized we could do something about it if we talked to the right people and took the right steps," Wininger said.\nWininger said he believes the administration and trustees overwhelmingly support the ban. He expects complaints from students but believes it will be worth it, he said.\nFreshman Tyler DeLong, who quit smoking three weeks ago at the request of close friends, still sees a ban on smoking as a violation of smokers' rights, he said. In response, he organized a formal protest of the proposed ban, called "Light Up for Freedom." Smokers were encouraged to meet at the Sample Gates at noon Sept. 29 to smoke and raise awareness, though only about 15 people showed up, he said.\nDeLong suggests the group focus more on enforcing current smoking standards, he said.\n"I think the complaint about secondhand smoke when you are 30 feet away is kind of stupid," DeLong said. "I think that if the current policy was actually enforced, these people would be much happier."\nStill, Wininger said students don't respect the 30-foot boundary. Groups of students can commonly be seen in doorways near the buildings where students walk, and cigarette butts can be found all over campus, he said.\n"If we are going to be this campus that is going to push life sciences and health sciences, then it doesn't make much sense for that kind of an unhealthy habit to be so pervasive on campus," Wininger said.\nSophomore Alex Wukmer, a smoker of three years, said he smokes on campus every day and would continue to do so regardless of the ban.\n"People have this thing about civil rights, where they are going to do what they like to do," Wukmer said. "IU doesn't have a right to tell me what I can and cannot do. If IU wants to write me a ticket for smoking outside in the open air, I would call that an injustice, plain as day."\nStudents' Smokefree Coalition is trying to provide a healthy atmosphere for everyone, Morgan said. Numerous studies, which were included in the proposal submitted to the administration, have shown that outdoor cigarette smoke can be detrimental to health, he said.\n"If we should go tobacco-free, we're not trying to ban people from doing something, it isn't our intention to take something away," Morgan said. "We don't want to ban them from smoking, we want to provide a tobacco-free environment for everyone"