Town Hall Meeting, Smoking on Campus
Stacy Fussell
Issue date: 2/5/10 Section: News
"Quitting smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know, I have done it a thousand times."
-Mark Twain
On Thursday, Feb. 4, smokers and non-smokers among students and faculty gathered in the Hoag Auditorium to debate a controversial issue: whether North Georgia should be a completely tobacco-free campus.
North Georgia is considered a tobacco-free campus, with the exception of designated smoking facilities near campus boundaries.
Many at the meeting expressed their support for removing tobacco from the school entirely. One such argument was that North Georgia is a senior military college and the military is currently taking steps to remove tobacco use from the military bases.
Should North Georgia follow the trend?
It was suggested that North Georgia should lead the way for tobacco free campuses across the United States.
On the other side of the argument, should North Georgia just keep its smokers confined to their designated smoking areas?
Located on campus are two designated smoking areas - one behind Gaillard Hall and Donovan Hall, commonly referred to as the "Bus Stop," and another between Lewis Annex and Sanford Hall known as "Vegas."
Both areas are on the edge of campus and are relatively far from the non-smokers. But one young lady who attended the meeting said that the location of the smoke shacks was troublesome for her.
She has been an asthmatic for many years, and often times suffer from asthma related distress when she nears the smoke shacks. With her testimony, the conundrum of rights arose.
When is the line drawn? When does one person's right to smoke infringe on a person's right to a healthy life?
Smokers at the meeting such as Robert Kenney attempted to point out the benefits of designated smoking facilities.
Kenney said smokers tend to keep to themselves and often use the smoke shacks as a socializing area. Other smokers felt so strongly about the smoke shacks that they offered to collect a fund to provide for the maintenance of the smoke shacks.
Despite the overwhelming support shown for the smoke shacks at North Georgia, Laura Balkom pointed out that only 16 percent of college students in the U.S. smoke and that the number of smoke-free campuses has nearly quadrupled since 2006. Therefore, are the social lives of smokers worth the health risks for the campus' non-smokers?
The debate lasted for more than 90 minutes and while many opinions and ideas were heard and considered, the issue has yet to be fully decided.
-Mark Twain
On Thursday, Feb. 4, smokers and non-smokers among students and faculty gathered in the Hoag Auditorium to debate a controversial issue: whether North Georgia should be a completely tobacco-free campus.
North Georgia is considered a tobacco-free campus, with the exception of designated smoking facilities near campus boundaries.
Many at the meeting expressed their support for removing tobacco from the school entirely. One such argument was that North Georgia is a senior military college and the military is currently taking steps to remove tobacco use from the military bases.
Should North Georgia follow the trend?
It was suggested that North Georgia should lead the way for tobacco free campuses across the United States.
On the other side of the argument, should North Georgia just keep its smokers confined to their designated smoking areas?
Located on campus are two designated smoking areas - one behind Gaillard Hall and Donovan Hall, commonly referred to as the "Bus Stop," and another between Lewis Annex and Sanford Hall known as "Vegas."
Both areas are on the edge of campus and are relatively far from the non-smokers. But one young lady who attended the meeting said that the location of the smoke shacks was troublesome for her.
She has been an asthmatic for many years, and often times suffer from asthma related distress when she nears the smoke shacks. With her testimony, the conundrum of rights arose.
When is the line drawn? When does one person's right to smoke infringe on a person's right to a healthy life?
Smokers at the meeting such as Robert Kenney attempted to point out the benefits of designated smoking facilities.
Kenney said smokers tend to keep to themselves and often use the smoke shacks as a socializing area. Other smokers felt so strongly about the smoke shacks that they offered to collect a fund to provide for the maintenance of the smoke shacks.
Despite the overwhelming support shown for the smoke shacks at North Georgia, Laura Balkom pointed out that only 16 percent of college students in the U.S. smoke and that the number of smoke-free campuses has nearly quadrupled since 2006. Therefore, are the social lives of smokers worth the health risks for the campus' non-smokers?
The debate lasted for more than 90 minutes and while many opinions and ideas were heard and considered, the issue has yet to be fully decided.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Shelby Simmons
posted 2/05/10 @ 8:29 AM EST
Nicely done Stacy! Although I'm not so sure about the Kenney part. Remember though this was just a brainstorming meeting. We weren't trying to decide anything yet, just giving the president ideas on how to go about fixing this issue. (Continued…)
Frank Lorenzo
posted 2/12/10 @ 9:28 AM EST
The non smokers should stop whining. I don't smoke but the smoke shacks are so far away that the asthmatics are just overreacting.
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