Up in smoke

Almost any student at Portland State is aware of the presence of smokers outside campus buildings, particularly in congested areas like Smith Memorial Student Union and Cramer Hall, despite non-smoking signage. And with the University of Oregon’s recent introduction of a tobacco-free campus policy, leaders at PSU are considering implementing a more stringent policy on campus.

The work is being carried out by the Healthy Campus Initiative, a group created in spring 2009 under Vice Provost for Student Affairs Jackie Balzer.

To be certain, Gwyn Ashcom, a health educator from the Center for Student Health and Counseling and a member of the committee, said that the university currently does not have a “smoke-free” policy, but rather a “restrictive” policy about tobacco use. This means that there are certain areas on campus that are designated for smoking.

Ashcom said the reason why the university currently adopts a restrictive instead of a smoke-free approach is for the sake of practicality.

“[As] an urban institution, we have many streets that run through our campus that we have no jurisdiction over,” Ashcom said. “So what we do is try to be as restrictive as we can in our area.”

According to Ashcom, unrestricted areas include the South Park Blocks and the sidewalk that runs along Southwest Broadway, both of which belong to the city. However, certain parts of the university, unbeknownst to students, are not public spaces and thus are not excluded from the non-smoking rule.

“A lot of students are not aware that smoking is not allowed in any covered walkway [from] Neuberger to Cramer,” Ashcom said. “Also, the entire Urban Plaza is a smoke-free space, because we have full jurisdiction over that.”

In the past, the rule used to be that smokers had to maintain a certain distance from the doors of buildings, including the pathway between SMSU and Cramer. However, in a 2007 Smoking/Tobacco use policy report, prepared by Ashcom and several other colleagues, the policy was amended to include the covered awning between the buildings as a restrictive area.

The report itself is now being use as a tool to implement the smoking policy. Conducted in 2007, the report came out of a campus-wide survey that gauges students’ and faculty perception regarding smoking on campus.

One of the problems with having students abide by the smoking policy is the lack of visibility of designated smoking spots on campus. In the survey, more than half said that current signage to identify smoking areas was inadequate. It also indicated that the majority wants the 25-foot rule to be revised.

Currently, there is one smoking area by the Park Blocks between SMSU and Cramer. The cost of building such space is about $23,000.

Ashcom believes that the university needs to create a public education campaign to inform students and staff of the campus smoking policy. Ideally, she said, this would be a better form of enforcement than having an actual penalty.

“Hopefully, words get around where people become more aware and we can rely on self-policing,” Ashcom said. “There needs to be a shift in culture where people are more respectful of a smoke-free environment.”

Senior Blair Chadwick said he finds it irresponsible that smokers choose to be in non-designated smoking areas.

“The signs are there, and people just don’t follow it,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anything else we can do, save putting up a huge ugly poster on every door.”

Chadwick said there’s no way to escape the smoke if someone wants to go between SMSU and Cramer Hall.

“My little nephew thinks that I smoke because I smell of cigarettes,” Chadwick said.

Even for students who don’t mind the smoke, they said they would rather not be anywhere near it.

“I used to be a smoker myself, so on the one hand, I sympathize with [the smokers] for wanting to smoke in peace,” said sophomore Kelly Stim. “But I quit smoking for a reason, and yet I’m still being exposed to it at school.” ?