Initiative May Leave Smokers Seeking New Places to Light Up

Author: Gale Berninghausen

Students who enjoy the convenience of smoking in their own rooms or near the entrances of on- campus buildings may soon have to change their ways. Though few people know about it, Middlebury has recently introduced an initiative that seeks to ban tobacco use in residence halls and near building entrances. This initiative has been proposed by the Commons Administration Office and is also supported by the Office of Health and Wellness Education. If the smoking ban is achieved, frustration and dissatisfaction will most likely be the response of students who smoke, while non-smokers will have cause to celebrate. The fate of smoking on Middlebury's campus will undoubtedly be of great interest to both factions as the proposal plays out over the year.
The Middlebury College Handbook asserts on page 38 that, "the Middlebury College workplace is a smoke-free environment. In compliance with state regulations, all areas in the College are smoke free, with the exception of residential space." Students are permitted to smoke in their rooms only if it is agreeable to their roommate(s) and anyone who may be affected in adjacent areas. However, many have noticed that while this may be the policy, it is not necessarily the actuality. By its nature, smoke travels and areas that may be deemed "smoke-free" are frequently infiltrated by smoke. The doorways and entrance areas to most buildings around campus are often occupied by smokers, especially during times of bad weather, and the smoke drifts in through doors and windows. Many non-smokers have complained about this exposure to second-hand smoke, provoking efforts to change the smoking policy.
Mariah McKechnie, residential system coordinator in the Commons Administration Office, has submitted this proposal for smoke-free residence halls in response to the vast increase in student interest in substance- and smoke-free living. McKechnie commented that about 60 percent of the room change requests she receives have something to with moving to a substance free hall. Her proposal has prompted the creation of a task force comprised of nine students who work throughout the year to write a smoke-free policy. They plan to then have the policy officially adopted by the College and to develop more effective campaigns for the cessation of smoking. These students — eight sophomores and one senior — will receive a small stipend for their work from the American Cancer Society, which trains students and college administrators across the country in how to build and launch a campaign that is effective and isn't negative. McKechnie emphasized the nature of initiative: "This is not a campaign to alienate smokers but rather to decrease exposure of second-hand smoke to non-smokers and to make our campus safer and healthier."
The issue of health is a driving factor behind the intended smoking intervention program. Yonna McShane, director of the Health and Wellness Education Office, is collaborating with the student task force, McKechnie and the American Cancer Society. McShane is able to offer her extensive knowledge about the use of substances on the Middlebury campus. She understands both the health and the social implications of this objective to make all residential space smoke free.
Every two to three years a national study, called CORE, is conducted on alcohol and drug use by college and high school students. Tobacco is one of the categories in this study, which was most recently performed here last year. Six hundred male and female Middlebury students of all class years were randomly selected and about 70 percent participated in the 2001 CORE Study. The results indicated that 93 percent of Middlebury students don't use tobacco products on a daily basis and that the percentage of Middlebury students who use tobacco products three or more times a week is 16.6 percent compared to 24 percent nationally. McShane believes that it is good news that Middlebury students are "smoking less than at other colleges nationally." The number of Middlebury students who indicated a preference to live in a tobacco-free residence hall was close to 60 percent and 55 percent of Middlebury students stated that they been exposed to second-hand smoke on 1 to 7 occasions each week.
When asked about the effects of second-hand smoke, McShane was quick to offer startling statistics and extensive information. She cited the 30,000 lung cancer deaths that occur annually in healthy non-smokers, eye-irritation, headaches, nausea, dizziness, the increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) for children whose parents smoke as well as pneumonia, bronchitis, ear infections and the exacerbation of asthma. All of these are convincing factors in the initiative to decrease exposure to second-hand smoke for students living at Middlebury. McShane put it bluntly: "Second-hand smoking will kill you just as smoking will." There's little doubt that the negative and often severe health consequences of smoking build a strong argument in favor of the smoke-free proposal.
But tobacco use remains a part of college life in spite of the health risks, and McShane expressed an understanding of this fact. Vermont advertising for tobacco products is $11 million while in Massachusetts it is $119 million. The CORE study from October 2002 showed that most students who use tobacco products here at Middlebury started using between the age of 13 and 20. The majority started between the age of 16 and 17 and the second greatest majority started between the age of 14 and 15. This reveals the fact that most tobacco users at Middlebury began smoking before coming to the College.
McShane spoke about the tobacco cessation treatment that is offered by Parton Health Center in Carr Hall, Middlebury's local Porter Hospital and the Vermont Quit Line. She was optimistic, remarking: "there are more resources available to smokers who want to quit than in the past." Kathleen Ready, R.N. and administrative director at the Health Center, offered further information about the number of students who are currently trying to quit by using the patch or other effective medical interventions. Ready noted that "smoking is a form of self-medication…I'm always glad to see people who need information or assistance." She further commented upon recent studies that have shown that "social pressure against smoking has an effect on stopping smoking."
While some Middlebury smokers, or tobacco users, may be trying to quit, others are not and the initiative for smoke-free residence halls will probably cause problems for those students. The argument that they are of age (Vermont State Law allows the buying of tobacco at age 18) and that they retain individual rights to smoke in their personal space is certainly strong. These students are adults and should be able to smoke at their leisure. But the other argument rests upon the idea of shared community space and the rights of those who have chosen not to smoke.
The residence halls and building entrances are considered to be shared community spaces and the impact of smoke on non-smokers is hard to ignore. Thus the task force will preclude smoking in all rooms, hallways, stairwells, lounges and entrances and will evaluate each building on campus to determine the distances in which smokers must refrain from lighting up. The next step will be to map out smoking areas that are mutually agreeable to smokers and non-smokers.
This may sound like the creation of a smoke-free campus altogether, in which smoking is not permitted on the grounds, but McKechnie assures that while "some campuses have chosen to go to smoke-free grounds, Middlebury would like to start with residence halls and building perimeters" to judge how the program works. McKechnie understands that this does seem "heavily weighted towards the non-smoker" but is echoed by her colleague McShane who remarks that the proposal for smoke-free buildings "is not an attempt to punish smokers."
President of the Student Government Association Ginny Hunt '03 noted that while the Student G
overnment Association Senate has not yet been approached about the proposal, she does know about it and it "will be addressed as a senate issue. It's on the radar and students are aware of this important issue." McKechnie and the task force plan to seek approval from Community Council, which is co-chaired by Ben LaBolt '03 and Dean of Students Ann Hanson. LaBolt was certain that the initiative would be "considered for the Community Council agenda this fall."
The proposal, McKechnie further noted, takes into consideration the fact that faculty are not allowed to smoke in their offices and the current policy that permits students to smoke in their rooms is unfair. Not only is it unfair, she says, but it is also an extreme fire hazard and has proved costly in dorm room repairs and renovations.
"Students are not allowed to burn candles or incense or have halogen lights in their rooms and neither should they be allowed to smoke," McKechnie stated, "because smoking is the number-one cause of house fires."
McKechnie and the task force hope to work quickly and to have the new policy adopted by January because Michael Katz, director of the summer Language Schools, has indicated to McKechnie that the language school will agree to accept this policy and it will start in the summer of 2003. Smoke free residences and buildings will then be instituted for the academic year of 2003-2004.
Smokers and non-smokers alike will soon encounter this campaign that seeks to provide a smoke-free environment as the answer to an issue that has long been a concern for many in the College community.