By Kristina Padlo
Take a deep breath because campus is now smoke-free. But is it still a smoker’s campus? Some are ignoring the rule and there is not much to stop them.
Smoking is not allowed anywhere near the buildings, but you can smoke in your car and in some parking lots. Back parking lots #5 and #7 are no-smoking areas because they are located on daycare grounds.
Dr. Crabill says she made the decision to end smoking on campus at the end of last semester. School officials decided to wait to put the policy in place until September to make it easy for students to follow the policy. During the summer, maintenance staff removed ashtrays from campus, put up no-smoking signs — and cleaned up mounds of cigarette butts. Before the cleaning, Dr. Crabill said, “This place looked like an ashtray. There were cigarette butts everywhere.”
Some student smokers are not happy with the change.
“We are adults and we have to pay to come here,” said Dan Frias. “If we are old enough to decide we want to smoke we should be able to smoke on campus.” Theresa Roman also disagrees with the new rule. “It doesn’t seem safe to make everyone smoke in the parking lot with all the crazy drivers,” she said
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But the move has relieved a lot of students and faculty, according to Dr. Crabill, who said the majority support the change. “There is no reason anyone should have to deal with the smoke of others,” she said
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Professor Karen Graffney favors the ban. She said she’ll confront students who smoke on campus and remind them of the new rule.
Some smokers oppose the rule but will follow it anyway. “Yeah, I smoke,” said Roman, “but I follow the rules because I feel guilty. I walk the extra mile. I understand that others who don’t smoke don’t like the smell.”
But others intend to ignore the ban. One problem is that there is no serious consequence for smoking. Dan Frias admitted he continues to smoke on campus and said he knows quite a few other students who do, too. Frias said he knows that nothing will happen to him.
Cathleen Ludwig, a non-smoking student says, “I don’t think (the ban) is a bad thing, but if we are going to have rules we should enforce them.”
According to Dr. Crabill, security guards will tell a smoker to put it out or go where it is permissible, and they’ll give her the name of anyone who is disrespectful. It is hard to know whether that threat alone will convince smokers to comply
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The Community College of Morris has gone smoke-free too. There, students who do not follow the policy are fined $75.
While that may be an effective punishment, Dr. Crabill admitted, she hopes RVCC won’t have to go that route. “It is expensive enough for students to attend college,” she said. “I do not want to have to fine the students.” She believes RVCC is no different from other businesses that have no-smoking policies and should apply the rules without hesitation. Smoking on the school campus is no longer appropriate, she said.
What if getting the students attention and taking names from security does not work?
“It will work” Dr. Crabill said.
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