The University Senate resolution that called for a smoking ban within 20 feet of all buildings on the Morningside campus is now in effect, according to Vice President of Student and Administrative Services Scott Wright.
Still, Wright said that his office won’t begin enforcing the ban, which passed Dec .3, until it’s been properly publicized. Currently, Wright and his staff is spreading the word on campus about the new policy, as well as smoking cessation programs available at Health Services.
For now, Wright’s office is planning on sending each Morningside building downloadable PDF files that can be laminated and posted to inform the campus of the ban. The signage probably won’t be in place until students return for the spring term, he said.
After the policy has been better advertised, enforcement will fall to Public Safety, although Wright said he is hoping the policy will enforced by students and faculty themselves.
“We are expecting ... once people are aware of where they can smoke … people will just do it,” he said. “I don’t think anyone is going to feel they have been unfairly inconvenienced.”
He added, “If we have some spots where we don’t feel that’s working, we will sit down with the people at that building to talk about what we could do to enforce the policy.”
His office is also working on relocating ashtrays to comfortable smoking areas at 20 or more feet away from the buildings.
Wright, who commissioned the Tobacco Work Group, the body which has researched the possibility of a ban for the past two years, said the group was originally in favor of a full ban, which may have been easier to implement.
“That said, we ended up with a manageable compromise,” he said. “We did think it [a full ban] was taking a leap, instead of a step.”
But this isn’t the end of the discussion. “I’m expecting in another year or two ... we will come back and revisit the issue,” he said, adding that renewed student interest or restarting the work group could reopen the debate.
Alex Frouman, CC ’12 and a member of the senate’s executive committee, said the focus of the discussion should be on compliance with the ban. He said that people can conform to the 20-foot ban without it being a great burden, which would not be the case with a full ban.
Even though the Columbia University Medical Center uptown already has a full ban, Frouman said the campus at Morningside is much larger, and a ban would affect many more people.
A straw poll was taken at the last senate meeting regarding a full ban. Twenty-seven senators voted in favor of it, with 10 opposed and two abstentions.
“I know a lot of senators like the idea of a [full] ban,” he said, adding that votes should reflect the wisest decision for campus and not the senators’ personal opinions.
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