Wynonia Barrows
Published: November 26, 2008
Smoking within 50 feet of classroom buildings is no longer allowed on Pensacola campus, according to a campus-wide e-mail directive sent Nov. 18. College administrators reacted with the directive after receiving “a number of complaints from the campus community,” according to Dr. James Martin, vice president for student affairs.
“For smokers, the college comprehends that you feel you need to smoke. For non-smokers, the college comprehends that it is unacceptable that you must be exposed to second-hand smoke. Smoking has been documented unhealthy for both smokers and non-smokers. The wellness of our students, faculty and staff is paramount in importance to the college leadership,” Martin said in the e-mail.
Effective immediately, there will be no smoking (students, faculty, staff, guests) within 50 feet of Buildings 1, 4, 15, 17 and 21. If administrators receive complaints about other areas, the non-smoking area could be expanded or the whole campus could be designated as a non-smoking campus.
SGA President Terrance Young, who is a smoker, is fine with the new rules.
“As SGA president, I have received several complaints about students smoking to close to the buildings, and it’s a good thing that this new rule will be put into effect to protect students’ health,” he said.
Another smoker on campus is a student, Callie Hassebrock. Like Young, she is fine with putting distance between herself and the buildings if it will make other students healthier.
“I don’t mind walking a little further to smoke my cigarette,” she said. “I just don’t know what to do if it’s raining one day. I guess I will just have to deal with it.”
Allen Liberal Arts Building (building 4) is one area where many students and faculty congregate near the entrances to smoke. As students run the gauntlet of smokers to enter the building, some people complain about the smell, while others wheeze from asthma and allergies.
“I’m allergic to smoke and I can’t stand coughing while I am walking to class, I’m so thankful that we now have these rules to protect the students, and their right to be healthy,” student Kersah Dahn said.
Dahn is not the only one concerned about health-safety issues. Administrators hope that smokers will clean up their habit.
“It is the college’s hope that all smokers will discontinue smoking. We recognize that this and future actions to reduce smoking on our campuses will not necessarily keep students, faculty, staff and guests from smoking. It will not be an easy process — one solved by the aforementioned directives. However, it is the college’s responsibility to protect non-smokers from the documented health hazards associated with exposure to second-hand smoke. To that end, the college will utilize all resources to resolve this issue,” Martin said in the e-mail.
Young also hopes that some day this college will become one of many colleges to ban smoking altogether on campus.
“I might be a smoker, but it is my job to represent and protect the ideas and rights of our students,” he said.