Smoke-free at last?
Campaign sets sights on Laney as a smoke-free campus
Valerie Nicolas
Issue date: 4/6/06 Last update: 4/7/06 at 5:25 PM PST
Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
A campaign is afoot for Laney to follow in the steps of smoke-free Bay Area community colleges Ohlone, Foothill and DeAnza.
About a year ago, talks towards banning smoking on campus began within the Laney Health Advisory (Wellness) Committee, which is made up of student government officials and school staff.
Recently, members posted at least 30 signs around campus which state California government regulations prohibiting smoking within 20 feet of main entrances, exits and windows. According to Indra Thadani RN, MSN, Laney Health Services Coordinator and a member of the Wellness Committee, "The next step is to have designated areas and eventually to become a smoke-free campus."
The campaign's goals are: to improve the physical and health environment on campus, to prevent tobacco-related illness within the student population, to assist those with serious smoking addictions and to help students stop wasting money on an unhealthy habit.
Other than Thadani and a number of non-smoking committee members, the campaign is also supported by Dean of Student Support Services and Matriculation, Matthew Kritscher. There is no known statistic of exactly how many students support the campaign since no surveys or polls have been taken because as Thadani expressed, "There's not enough health services staff and help to actually get projects like these quickly off the ground."
Of course, a movement like this cannot go unchallenged.
"Smokers have rights like everyone else," defended an anonymous staff member who quit smoking less than a year ago. "If we end up with a smoke-free campus, what will be next?"
According to Thadani, such opinions have not gone unnoticed. "We understand that smoking is a serious addiction and so I think it'd be unfair to push forward with the campaign without better assistance and alternatives to offer the smokers on campus," she said.
The three smoke-free community colleges in the Bay Area Ohlone, Foothill, and DeAnza offer extensive tobacco control programs. Ohlone became the first smoke-free college in the Bay Area in 2004. Currently, a team of 100 students, staff, faculty, and administrators is working to promote and educate about their smoking policy.
For the meantime, an educational effort will be launched at Laney during the Wellness Fair on April 20. This includes posters created by students with facts about smoking and graphic photographs of tobacco's cancerous effects on the human body.
Thadani advised that students should contact members of the Associated Students of Laney College.
"Whether you're for or against a smoke-free campus, voice your opinion to the leaders who are supposed to represent you."
About a year ago, talks towards banning smoking on campus began within the Laney Health Advisory (Wellness) Committee, which is made up of student government officials and school staff.
Recently, members posted at least 30 signs around campus which state California government regulations prohibiting smoking within 20 feet of main entrances, exits and windows. According to Indra Thadani RN, MSN, Laney Health Services Coordinator and a member of the Wellness Committee, "The next step is to have designated areas and eventually to become a smoke-free campus."
The campaign's goals are: to improve the physical and health environment on campus, to prevent tobacco-related illness within the student population, to assist those with serious smoking addictions and to help students stop wasting money on an unhealthy habit.
Other than Thadani and a number of non-smoking committee members, the campaign is also supported by Dean of Student Support Services and Matriculation, Matthew Kritscher. There is no known statistic of exactly how many students support the campaign since no surveys or polls have been taken because as Thadani expressed, "There's not enough health services staff and help to actually get projects like these quickly off the ground."
Of course, a movement like this cannot go unchallenged.
"Smokers have rights like everyone else," defended an anonymous staff member who quit smoking less than a year ago. "If we end up with a smoke-free campus, what will be next?"
According to Thadani, such opinions have not gone unnoticed. "We understand that smoking is a serious addiction and so I think it'd be unfair to push forward with the campaign without better assistance and alternatives to offer the smokers on campus," she said.
The three smoke-free community colleges in the Bay Area Ohlone, Foothill, and DeAnza offer extensive tobacco control programs. Ohlone became the first smoke-free college in the Bay Area in 2004. Currently, a team of 100 students, staff, faculty, and administrators is working to promote and educate about their smoking policy.
For the meantime, an educational effort will be launched at Laney during the Wellness Fair on April 20. This includes posters created by students with facts about smoking and graphic photographs of tobacco's cancerous effects on the human body.
Thadani advised that students should contact members of the Associated Students of Laney College.
"Whether you're for or against a smoke-free campus, voice your opinion to the leaders who are supposed to represent you."
