We’re all for using referendums to give student government officials insight when they consider possible policy changes.
But we think the recent referendum on whether smoking should be banned on campus failed to paint an accurate picture of how the majority of the student body actually feels about the issue.
The results of the referendum are deceiving.
Of the approximate 2,400 students who voted, 1,200 said they wanted smoking banned on campus.
Of the other 1,200 votes, 700 said they would support a partial ban on smoking and 500 said they wanted no ban at all.
At first glance, the vote seems to overwhelmingly support a ban.
But consider this: there were just as many students who voted against a complete ban on smoking as there were who voted for the ban.
And don’t forget, only a small fraction of the student body voted in the election.
Numerous student organizations, including, unfortunately The Daily, didn’t do a good job of letting students know the smoking and other referendums would be on the UOSA election ballot.
But student leaders should consider what a small sample this is if they think about putting restrictions on campus smoking.
Smoking is something that rarely affects people on campus other those with cigarettes in their mouths.
People can’t smoke in campus buildings or within 25 feet of their entrances.
There is no evidence that smoking is problematic to the point that it warrants taking away the freedom of those who choose to smoke.
We think banning smoking on campus is a preposterous idea, one that would unnecessarily take away personal freedom from students, faculty and staff members and anyone else who walks on this campus and desires to smoke.
We don’t know if UOSA leaders will act in response to the referendum. But if they do, students — smokers and non-smokers alike — should be the first to protest.
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Smoking, contrary to popular belief, does affect other people on campus, not only the smoker.
Many people walking to class, students and faculty, have probably walked through a smoke cloud made by a cigarette. What isn't known, however, is how deadly the secondhand smoke really is. Whether you are inside or outside, there is no safe level of expose to secondhand smoke (US Surgeon General Richard Carmona, 2006.) In other words, if you can smell it, then you are being affected by it, no matter the distance. Many people also do not realize what chemicals they are breathing in. Formaldehyde, which is used in embaling fluids, benzene, which is used in gasoline, and vinyl chloride, used in pvc pipes, are just a few of the many deadly chemicals that are in both the cigarette and secondhand smoke. In addition, the health risks involved include increased risk for heart attack, reduced heart rate, and blood platelets to become sticker among the other risks. And thats just by being exposed by a short time!
Not only does the secondhand smoke affect people, but the litter is a problem as well. There are cigarette butts everywhere on campus, which not only makes the campus dirty and unclean. The butts are not biodegradeable, which hinder our effects on campus to go green. In addition, the cigarette butts could potentially start fires, which is currently a problem in Oklahoma. The animals that are on campus are affected as well. I have already seen many squirrels and birds this semester pick up and eat the cigarette butts, thinking it is food, when in reality it is not and will only cause the animal to get sick later on. Not only does it make the campus dirty and the animals and environment unsafe, but it also makes us contributing factors to the world count of cigarette butts. There are so many cigarette butts that you could go to the Earth and the Moon, twice! That's a lot of litter!
And that's just a few. There are plenty more facts and reasons that say why we need a smoking ban on campus. People who smoke interfere with other people's freedoms because it affects their choice to not smoke through secondhand smoke and cigarette litter, resulting in health risks and endangering the environment. To say that it is a preposterous idea to ban smoking because it doesnt or "rarely" affects other people is shocking and ridiculous.
Joshua Trope
This issue was very poorly reported on and so there should be some kind of closer inspection of this vote and how representative it is. However, it's clear enough at least to me that hardly any smokers obey the 25 foot rule on campus. I don't hate smokers, but I detest having to be around people who smoke, especially when they're snottily standing right in front of Kaufman or Dale essentially letting everyone see them smoking. It's disgusting and it's filthy and it's a shame that university students have to put up with it.
I read somewhere (hard to find, really, since the Daily has done such an awful job publicizing this) that the person who introduced the resolution was fed up with people not obeying the 25 foot rule. I'm all for banning smoking, but it really needs to come about through a more extensive poll of students than the UOSA election voters. At the very least, the majority of people who did vote had some issue with the refusal of most smokers to not stand right in front of doors, so the faculty senate or whoever has to approve this should at least take that into account in deciding how far they want to carry this issue.
I'd like to see another, more well-publicized vote with a simple yes-or-no response option. If students don't want to ban it, the university should respect that, but it's looking clear that most students don't appreciate smokers treading on their air.
Joshua, most of us sit in traffic and drive around in cars constantly... the car in front of you is pumping harmful chemicals directly into your car's air system. This should not warrant banning cars, and neither should "secondhand smoke" warrant a ban on cigarettes on campus.
If we're going to ban anything and everything that could potentially be dangerous (or litter producing), we all need to live in some sort of bubble, and even that sounds pretty dangerous.
That's a terrible analogy. Smoking has absolutely no useful function in our society, whereas cars are absolutely integral. People are willing to put up with car exhaust because we as a society have decided that we like the benefits of cars. In addition, in your analogy the person complaining about exhaust is putting it out in the air himself, but you don't see many smokers complaining about each other. The only consequence of a smoke ban here will be those of us who don't smoke not having to wallow in the publicly unhealthy habits of others. Turning it into some crappy slippery slope is just ridiculous - this is JUST about smoking.
Great article Daily...if it were actually written before we voted on it. UOSA didn't fail us, the Daily did.
The selective interpretation of the results provided here is at least as suspect as the Daily's failure to publicize the vote that would ban smokers from campus. Yes, it is true that about half of the respondents did not consider a complete ban of smoking as the best option. However, and I am using the Daily's rounded totals, we see that about 70% of respondents voted to increase the restrictions placed on on-campus smoking in some fashion.
These results suggest the bulk of the disagreement is not over whether to restrict smoking but rather over the best way to impose said restrictions.
Although I completely support a second and better-publicized referendum that gets a larger fraction of the student body to vote, I would expect that the results would reveal a similar mindset among the student body at large. The Daily should know better than to put forward such an inaccurate interpretation of the voting results.
I'm just saying that we participate in many "dangerous" habits everyday (pardon the slippery slope). It's my personal opinion that the effects of minimal smoke encounters outdoors are largely insignificant.
Don't make me giggle...
Smoking constantly affects others. Just take a walk down the South Oval as classes are being released. Sure... cars are pumping harmful chemicals into the air, but cars actually have a helpful/beneficial side. And it's not like we're forced to put our faces near the exhaust pipes. Smokers on the other hand... well... let's just say that a ton of them don't care for the 25 feet rule... and there's nobody enforcing those rules.
Oh... and we're lucky to have such a beautiful campus, but one can easily spot cigarette butts being littered everywhere. Surprisingly... even in the urinals! Hahaha.
Apparently the Daily's editorial board has never walked through a cloud of cigarette smoke left behind by the person walking in front of them, or perhaps the editorial board is the one leaving the cloud of smoke.
I am excited about the ban I voted for. No more dogging those disgusting students who don't care about my health. Its like having to walk by and hold my breath or duck under the smoke heading your way due to the wind.
YAY for a ban.
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