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SGA passes smoking ban resolution

Published: Thursday, October 8, 2009

Updated: Thursday, October 8, 2009 00:10

Smoking

 

 

 

A resolution banning smoking on West Virginia University's Health Sciences Campus passed during Wednesday's Student Government Association meeting.

All but two of the 13 governors – Paul Kast and Abby Sobonya – voted for the ban.

Gov. Ron Cheng proposed an amendment "student input, collaboration, compromise and awareness for a progressive mode of reform," which was added unanimously to the resolution before it was voted on.

"Right now, the resolution is a smoking ban with only administration input, and technically we are supporting that," Cheng said. I want to make it clear that SGA is supporting a ban that involves students."

While Gov. Scott Covitz felt the resolution had "no student backing at all" before the amendment, he chose to vote "yes" because of its addition.

Cheng said adding the amendment did not affect the ban in anyway, but ensured the student voice in the matter.

"We still have a resolution that supports a ban," he said. "For the governors who are hesitant, this is like a settlement for both parties, a win-win situation."

Gov. Taylor Richmond, who drafted the resolution, said the clause should have been included in the original draft and was glad Cheng proposed it.

"It was an oversight by the governors that it wasn't in there," Richmond said. "SGA has been good to show support of student input on all policies."

Having SGA President Jason Zuccari on the University's Board of Governors is another a representative of the student body, Richmond said.

Zuccari will present the resolution at the Nov. 6 BOG meeting.

Sobonya asked Richmond if SGA was voting on the idea of a ban or supporting a future policy during the discussion.

"Support the ban. The resolution goes to the University's Board of Governors, and they address the policy," he said. "We can't support a policy, that's the job on the University's Board of Governors to formulate."

Sobonya and Kast both hesitated before voting against the resolution.

"Like most students, I am unsure of how the University is going to enforce (the ban)," Kast said. "I voted ‘no' because I don't believe in supporting a policy, and I don't see anybody enforcing the smoking rules that we have now."

Kast does not believe in taking the rights away from students who smoke because smoking is an individual choice.

Sobonya also hesitated and voted "no" because she was unsure if her decision would infringe upon a smoker's rights.

"There is no state law, or law in Mon. county that bans smoking," she said. "I'm not even sure if (banning smoking on the Health Science Campus) is legal."

She added that no policy was made after SGA drafted a campus-wide smoking ban resolution last year.

Student Health Chair Jon Bond, who had been fighting for the BOG to pass the resolution, was glad it passed.

"This is one stop in the process of becoming not only a healthy campus, but a healthy state," he said.

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12 comments

The Individual
Mon Oct 12 2009 23:42
HSC said, "Just to clarify... There is no such thing as "smokers' rights." If you think otherwise, please do a little research. Courts have consistently rejected the notion that anyone has a fundamental "right" to smoke because there is NO legal basis for this argument."

I am not sure if you know how the legal system works, but if this were the 1950s, with most people being smokers, then yes, it would be a law that smokers have a right to smoke. Public opinion doesn't make things right, because it manifested itself through the American legal system.

Your name
Mon Oct 12 2009 12:25
For some people, like myself, I have severe asthma and just the smell of cigarette smoke can trigger an asthma attack. Walking through smokers is not an option. I have to avoid cigarrette smoke at all costs, even if walking around a building. I work in a building on campus that I sometimes cannot enter without covering my face, holding my breath and running for my life, literally. Where are my rights? Shouldn't I have the right to breathe?
WVU Mom
Thu Oct 8 2009 20:39
Brandon, think about quitting. You'll feel better.
Brandon
Thu Oct 8 2009 20:20
Why don't smokers have rights? There are no laws in WV to say otherwise.
You can smoke in public = that's a right.
Adam
Thu Oct 8 2009 17:37
Well done banning smoking on the HSC campus. The last thing one wants to breathe when visiting Student Health et all is 2nd hand smoke.

Now let's get it done for the rest of WVU's campuses!

Shaun
Thu Oct 8 2009 17:32
Why does everybody worry about what other people are doing on campus? I think it is so ridiculous in that 1) I'm sure that people smoking, especially being outside, cannot be that strong and bothersome to anyone. Those who feel the need to complain about smelling smoke, tough luck. It does not need a dramatic display of disgust that you feel the need to put on. 2) There may be nothing that says you have the right to smoke, but who decides that people who do not smoke should get a more weighted vote because it is unhealthy and they don't do it. I feel that these type of votes are very weighted by people who do not smoke trying to push their views onto everyone else. 3) There is this thing called addiction, and people who do not smoke do not seem to understand how hard it is to overcome that. Now I'm not using that as an excuse for smoking, but I will say that quitting is hard. So, for all you non-smokers out there who want to hold yourselves above those who do, maybe you should pull the stick out of your butt and relax a little.
Your name
Thu Oct 8 2009 15:35
There are open container laws in WV. It is illegal to walk around campus with a beer.
HSC employee
Thu Oct 8 2009 12:38
Just to clarify... There is no such thing as "smokers' rights." If you think otherwise, please do a little research. Courts have consistently rejected the notion that anyone has a fundamental "right" to smoke because there is NO legal basis for this argument.
Nicholas
Thu Oct 8 2009 12:02
Smoker’s rights are all but gone. I used to smoke and have quit for over a year now and can tell you this is not a good thing. I understand not smoking inside buildings but the entire Health Sciences Campus? Taking the simple rights...yes until now it has been a right...will lead to the taking of basic rights, which in turn leads to all your rights being compromised by others because of their beliefs. Think I'm being over-dramatic?! Look at history not only in major situations but basic and local situations. Many of those who support this ban will soon have something they hold as a right taken away and then the domino effect will continue. Once again, I no longer smoke and don't enjoy being around smoke...BUT...I still feel others have rights and taking any right away whether I use it or not, is just wrong.
Lindsay
Thu Oct 8 2009 09:32
That is great! Banning smoking on health science campus is a great first step. I can't wait until they ban smoking on the rest of campus. That would be a joyous day when you can walk from class to class with out coughing and breathing in all that second hand smoke and seeing cigarette buds littered on our sidewalks!
Marie
Thu Oct 8 2009 08:30
Kudos to those SGA members who voted to support the smoke-free resolution. You stood up to tired tobacco industry crafted arguments like the "Smoker's Rights". With the hospital and HealthSouth going tobacco free, HSC will become a giant smoking area with all the patients, visitors, students, and employees just walking over here to light up and drop their cigarette butts on our grounds. Maintenance staff already spend hours every day picking up butts since so many smokers just drop their toxic waste wherever they light up. The "green line" is BS. No one even knows (or cares) where it is. Smoking on campus affects far more people than the person smoking. Breathing any amount of secondhand smoke has immediate negative consequences. So many students come to WVU as non-smokers. But when they are surrounded by smoking on campus and in every normal social venue, guess what? A lot of them take up smoking! Anything that limits smoking is a good thing, especially if it protects non-smokers.
Tyler
Thu Oct 8 2009 02:16
Some please tell me when smoking on campus became a right. Yes, it's legal, but no one has anymore of a right to it than I have a right to walk around campus with a beer.






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