Students might need to think twice about lighting up their cigarettes on Otterbein’s campus in the future.
The Ohio Board of Regents published a resolution this year requesting all colleges and universities in the state change their current smoking policy to either a smoke or tobacco-free policy campus wide.
Dr. Robert E. Braun, an assistant professor of allied health at Otterbein, said he wants the university to consider a similar policy known as the Grade A policy for smoke-free air, adopted by Ohio in 2006.
Grade A means smoking at a bar, a restaurant, a workplace and any other public place besides outside is prohibited, according to the American Lung Association’s State of Tobacco Control website.
Going smoke free means tobacco use would be prohibited on Otterbein’s campus, including all academic buildings and dorms.
Ohio State University has had a smoke free campus for a few years said Eunice Hornsby, assistant director of organization and human resources consulting. “There is a proposal now to have a tobacco free campus,” she said. “This will include things such as smokeless cigarettes, hookah smoked product, and oral tobacco (snuff, chew, snus). “We have the smoking policy for the health of the students, staff and faculty.”
Capital University, on the other hand, does not have a smoking or tobacco policy. Alyssa Otto, a senior athletic training major at Capital, said, “Capital is not smoke free. There are designated places for people to smoke, but we are not a smoke-free campus.”
Braun said that Otterbein is currently in the beginning stages of this initiative.
“We currently are assessing the attitudes and beliefs of the students,” he said. He wants to promote a healthier environment for everybody at Otterbein. He said the policy would also demonstrate that Otterbein cares about the community.
Lee Ann Bowers, a nurse practitioner at the Otterbein Student Health Center, said she agrees with this idea of a healthy campus. Bowers said that a smoke-free policy should be enforced. She added that smoking causes mouth and throat cancer, and that both could be prevented. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” she said.
Otterbein’s current policy states that people cannot smoke near or within residence halls, theme houses or Commons apartments. Smokers must remain at least 20 feet away from any campus building to avoid smoke from entering the building.
Rease Johnson, a first year voice music education major, said he agrees with this statement. “I, being allergic to tobacco, would appreciate if campus was tobacco free, also smoke is bad for voice majors’ voices.”
Braun said that community forums and interviews will be held for residents that live in the area around the Otterbein campus because the policy could affect them too.
“This will show how forward thinking we are on this health issue,” Braun said. “This will reflect positively on our campus and show our dedication to wellness of the students, employees, and surrounding community.”
Sarah Hoagland, a senior accounting major, is against the proposed policy. “A policy forbidding any tobacco use on campus would almost be infringing on people’s rights,” she said.
Braun said that he will be surveying students across campus to get a better sense of how they feel about the policy. He will then take the responses from the survey and create a policy based on them. After that, the policy will be presented to the Student Life Committee.
Braun said, “Our plan would be to have the new policy in place by the end of spring semester, 2013.”
