The anti-smoking debate rages on as last week a guest column penned by four authors was featured amongst these vary pages.
Smokers were once again put on alert that their pastime was a threat to non-smokers all over campus and the consumption of tobacco on the University’s campus would no longer be tolerated.
The four contributors to the singular column went to great lengths to point out UH’s smoking policy, but neglected to point out that the people on the frontlines of the policy’s enforcement are those offended by tobacco smoke.
Many smokers may not be aware of the existence of a UH smoking policy, but once told of its existence and guidelines, an offending smoker can be convinced to move his or her puffing to another location.
Many smokers are a carefree bunch of people who simply want to soothe their nerves with a cigarette or even take a smoke break in order to decompress from their days – even if such a time period lasts as long as their cigarette burns down to its filter.
Smokers seem to not want to engage in a display of defiance simply because theirs is a habit which can take place anywhere outdoors on the UH campus, even "within the well-ventilated and covered Arbor area and on the terraces of the University Center," according to the University’s Manual of Administrative Policies and Procedures.
This same policy dictates that its success is dependent on "the thoughtfulness, consideration and cooperation of smokers and non-smokers."
Simply put, those on the frontlines are those who want smokers to move elsewhere in order to partake a drag from a cigarette. So before Mr. Jekielek, Mr. Shenoy, Ms. A. Velasquez, and Ms. K. Velasquez form a task-force of Orwellian proportions to combat violators of the UH Smoking Policy, perhaps they should take the time out from commiserating on further columns to simply ask a smoker to move elsewhere. The group might find smokers to be a cooperative bunch, if not a happy-go-lucky crowd as well.
Smokers may find themselves addicted but continuing to smoke is a choice – as is seeking a way to stop smoking. Such a task is one left up to each smoker and should not be a rallying cry for putting an end to the freedom all smokers have to light up outdoors while at UH.
Ask first, then go to extremes if a smoker refuses to move their smoke break away from an area where non-smokers have chosen to assemble. While you might be surprised how willing a smoker is to take ten steps to their right or left, it is just as easy for a non-smokers to take as many steps away from a smoker.
Lopez, an English senior, can be reached via [email protected]
