| Other schools also cope with smoking bans |
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| Written by John Harden and Bryan Bastible, The Shorthorn senior staff | ||||
| Monday, 23 November 2009 08:58 PM | ||||
100% Tobacco-Free CampusesTexasAlamo Community Colleges Midwestern State University Tarrant County College New Mexico University of New Mexico Arkansas National Park Community College North Arkansas College Ozarka College Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas SAU Tech University of Arkansas University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton Oklahoma Oklahoma Christian University Oklahoma City University Oklahoma State University University of Central Oklahoma University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Western Oklahoma State College As other colleges and universities have learned, the transition period before banning tobacco use can be lengthy. Tarrant County College implemented its tobacco ban in the summer. Officials said the ban was created as a way to keep all of its campuses clean and students healthier. TCC’s decision to go tobacco free was met with little opposition, said Rusty Fox, Southeast Campus Student Development Services vice president. A few TCC students frustrated with the change wanted to start a petition, but it did not follow through, he said. When a college or university decides to go tobacco-free, it requires major adjustments. Oklahoma State University began its ban in July 2008 and is still going through the transition period, Communications director Gary Shutt said. “It’s a long process that’s constantly changing here at OSU,” he said. “We’re still trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t.” The university has measures in place to enforce the ban, and repeat offenders could face disciplinary action, he said. OSU doesn’t fine students who smoke on campus, but it could be applied in the future if it becomes a bigger problem, he said. “We expect students to act mature when it comes to following the rules,” Shutt said. “The transition has been pretty smooth so far, but we still have some students that refuse to follow the rules, but that was something to be expected.” On Jan. 1, Midwestern State University went tobacco free, said Keith Lamb, Student Affairs associate vice president. “What we’ve done since then is we wanted a period of time to allow people to adjust before it takes effect,” he said. To help with transitions, many colleges and universities offer cessation classes to students looking to quit, but the classes have low attendance, Fox said. No one goes to the classes because they don’t want to be told when to quit, TCC English sophomore David Lyons said. “[The ban] should be removed because it’s never been a problem for the students,” he said. “It seems it’s only a problem for the people we never see.” TCC’s policy states that the use of tobacco is prohibited in all buildings, but some students don’t see the need to quit smoking on campus. “I still smoke because I don’t feel it’s anyone’s place to tell me if I can smoke or not in a public setting,” Lyons said. Views: 552 | E-mail
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