Tuesday marked the first day of OSU’s new ‘Tobacco Free Campus’ policy. The new policy prohibits all forms of tabacco on campus.
OSU’s controversial tobacco ban has arrived.
The ban went into effect yesterday after more than a year of discussion and planning. The Student Government Association, Faculty Council and Staff Advisory Council all recommended the campus tobacco-free.
Signs adorned in the orange and black of OSU reading “breathe easy” and “Tobacco Free Campus” appeared on campus buildings as early as Monday and matching stickers adorn the doors to the inside of most buildings.
The change makes OSU the first tobacco-free campus in the Big 12.
“One of our objectives is to make OSU the healthiest campus in the country,” said OSU spokesman Gary Shutt.
All forms of tobacco are prohibited on campus, including campus parking lots and within parked or moving vehicles on campus.
Shutt said OSU is not taking away the right to smoke, but instead it is limiting where a person can smoke.
Some OSU students had a positive reaction to the ban.
“It’s a positive thing for the campus,” said political science senior Megan Holt. “I don’t smoke nor have I seen a lot of smokers on campus.”
Electrical engineering sophomore John Middleton said he didn’t mind people smoking but he welcomes the change.
“It’s nice,” Middleton said. “If you are walking to class, at least you don’t have to walk behind someone that is smoking. I like it.”
Lynn Daugherty is a graduate student studying education technology and she said she thinks OSU made a good decision.
“I don’t smoke, but I think it is a good move,” Daugherty said. “I don’t like going into restaurants where people are smoking either.”
Other students and faculty did not have a positive view of the ban.
“It makes me mad,” said electrical engineering senior Alan Oner. “It’s a rights issue. I have a right to do what I want with my body. I’m not going to take anyone else telling me what I can and can’t do with it.”
Mathematics professor David Ullrich said he has a condition called ulcerative colitis and that smoking actually helps.
“About seven years ago I heard from my doctor that tobacco is actually good for this condition,” Ullrich said. “I started smoking at 45 years old.”
Ullrich said he has noticed a positive impact on his body since he started smoking.
“My insides are not supposed to look nearly as good as they do, given that I’ve had this condition for such a long time,” Ullrich said. “I’m smoking for my health.”
Ullrich said he was aware of the risks and negative impact smoking can have on his health.
“I’m aware it’s bad for other aspects of health, but those aspects will kick in 30 years after I started smoking, and by that time I’ll be dead anyway,” Ullrich said.
Mike Hammer, a former Stillwater resident who will attend Georgia University next fall, took a smoke break on Library Lawn but said it was not in protest. Hammer said he believes when one smokes outside it greatly reduces the chance of any harmful second-hand smoke.
Hammer also said he believes if the 25-foot rule that was active before the campus went smoke-free was actually enforced, there would not have been a problem.
“I just wanted a smoke, man,” he said. “This seems like somewhat of a marketing ploy. They should be focusing more on academics.”
University Health Center has a special program with seven staff physicians to consider a quit plan with every student tobacco user.
Students can also find out more about the ban and its policies at http://www.tobaccostopshere.okstate.edu.
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Your hand model is so sensational.
Die, JC.