SGA tables smoking ban question

Author: Annie Onishi

The Student Government Association (SGA) held its weekly meeting on Sunday in the Robert A. Jones '59 House Conference Room. Agenda topics included a discussion about a possible change in school policy regarding smoking, a report from two representatives from the Service Council, the formation of an ad hoc committee to investigate the College's Napster subscription, a possible alteration to the SGA constitution to change senatorial representation to a more commons-based system and a discussion about the upcoming Faculty/Staff Appreciation Award.

Discussion about the possible change in the College's smoking policy incited lengthy and polarized discussion. A survey administered by a senatorial ad hoc committee reported that most students surveyed favored either no change to the current smoking policy, or a firmer banned radius. Rarely did a student opt for the complete prohibition of smoking on campus.

Sophomore Senator Max Nardini '08 proposed a "soft radius," which would require smokers to "maintain a respectful distance away from doors or windows where smoking may adversely affect others." According to Nardini, a "soft radius" would take a non-formulaic approach to the issue, embody the philosophy of Middlebury College and would "support the respectful action of both smokers and non-smokers on campus." The proposal received mixed responses, with one argument against a "soft radius" being that it is not the place of the SGA to legislate respect. The Senate decided to table the issue and concluded to investigate more deeply.

Following the discussion about the smoking policy, Mary Mendoza '06 and Lynn Gray '07.5 of the Middlebury College Service Council, an organization with representatives from all of the College's service groups, presented their proposal for a change in the way service organizations are funded. Presently, service organizations, like all other student-run clubs and organizations, receive money from the Finance Committee fund, to which all students contribute when the tuition bill is paid. However, the Finance Committee, because of its by-laws, cannot always fully fund service projects because the money does not directly come back to the campus, but is instead going out into the greater Middlebury community. Mendoza, Gray and the Senate agreed that the Service Council's proposal still needed revision, and the group will present the final draft at next week's SGA meeting.

Other brief topics of the meeting included a dialogue about renewing the College's subscription to Napster, altering the SGA's Constitution to change the Senate's make-up to a more commons-based representation and a possible change to how the Budget and Finance Committees operate.

The meeting concluded with a discussion about the upcoming Faculty/Staff Appreciation Award. According to Chief of Staff Marcus Hughes '06, the Faculty/Staff Appreciation Award serves to "have students show some appreciation for all the hard work that their faculty and staff members put forth throughout the year. That's the main idea." After a campus-wide e-mail is sent to students, students nominate a faculty or staff member and briefly explain the nomination. The SGA then discusses the nominations and votes on a winner. The presentation of the award will occur on April 26 in Ross' Fireplace Lounge. Hughes added that the criteria for the winner are not specific, but that "students must feel [that the faculty member is] worthy of receiving an award for his or her service."