New smoking bill discussed, temporary smoking sites to be determined

The Student Government Association held a senate summer session meeting June 20 in the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Pavilion.

The Bylaws Reformation bill was unanimously passed, which called for a completely revised version of the old bylaws that govern the SGA. This was made to allow for more clarity and conciseness; the document was condensed from more than 100 pages to 51.

The passage of the new bylaws allowed public relations senior Jeanette Rivera to be fully appointed as Director of Public Relations. This was only possible because of the summer Senate’s new ability under the new set of bylaws to bypass a clause that disallowed full appointments to be made during the summer session.

Further discussion was held on the tobacco-free transition planned for next year, including the provision of nicotine patches for students. It was determined that a communication campaign will be required in the fall to help raise awareness of the new policy. Additionally, tentative locations for the one-year temporary tobacco-use areas were discussed.

“Where those temporary smoking areas will be, we don’t know yet,” SGA President Cedric Bandoh said.

“We are considering that there may have to be a significant amount near residential areas.”

Regardless of where they choose to place those areas, the Tobacco Task Force in charge of drafting the new policy and overseeing its enforcement made a slight alteration. Rather than immediately removing the temporary smoking areas after the first year, they will review them at the end of the 2012-2013 academic year to consider making them permanent, Bandoh said.

There was also more talk about the SGA’s online presence, as their website is currently being revamped and they are working to make themselves more accessible to students. They also discussed their Facebook page and a mobile app that is being produced.