Oct.
12, 2016
First
out-of-class
One fine issued during first two months of smoking ban
Looking
to light up in East Lansing? Just make
sure it’s off the campus of Michigan State University, otherwise, a lofty fine
could be in the near future.
As of
August 15, 2016, Michigan State University began enforcing a campus-wide ban of
tobacco products, such as cigarettes, pipes, hookahs, e-cigarettes, chewing
tobacco and all other products or dispensers meant for the use of tobacco or
nicotine.
Failure
to comply with the university’s policy could result in a civil infraction,
discipline from the university for staff and students, and a fine of up to
$150, according to MSU spokesperson Jason Cody.
Cody
said that even though these policies are in place, the Michigan State
University Police Department will not actively enforce any harsh punishments.
"We're
not enforcing this from a punishment point of view," Cody said. "We're approaching this from an
education point of view. When people are
using tobacco, whether it's administrators, faculty, students, people are
giving simple reminders that there are rules and place and remind them of the
resources they can use to quit and I think it's been working very well."
The
ban follows in the footsteps of other universities in the state, like Central
Michigan University and the University of Michigan and other schools in the Big
Ten like Purdue University or the University of Maryland. HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS? ATTRIBUTE!
According
to the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, as of April 4, 2016, at least
1,483 universities nationwide were completely smoke-free, 1,137 of which were
100 percent tobacco-free.
WE’RE MISSING A NEUTRAL EXPERT INTHIS STORY, LIKE AN
OFFICIAL FROM THE RIGHTS FOUNDATION YOU MENTIONED OR A POLI SCI PROF WHO
SPECIALIZES IN TOBACCO POLICY (YES, THERE ARE SUCH PEOPLE). THEY WOULD HELP US BETTER
CONTEXTUALIZE THE ISSUE BY ALLOWING US TO COMPARE WHETHER WHAT IS HAPPENING
HERE IS TYPICAL OR NEW OR NOT COMPARED TO ELSEWHERE.
Other
universities across the nation, like The Ohio State University, have a similar
campus-wide tobacco ban enforced, but enforcers simply remind smokers the
resources the university has readily available to help quit the use of tobacco
products. HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS?
ATTRIBUTE!
MSU
police captain CAPT. IS CAPITALIZED AND
ABBREVIATED DIRECTLY AHEAD OF A TITLE HOLDER’S NAME, PER AP STYLE Doug
Monette said the early stages of the ban and the university’s tobacco-free
initiative has been about educating the public.
“It’s
important to note that this is a culture change,” Monette said. “And with this being a culture change, there
is education that needs to occur and not everybody that comes to this campus is
aware of all the ordinances or policies that are in place. Being an educational
institution and as a police department we enforce the laws as far as the state,
local and federal ordinances, but also what we need to do is educate people.”
Through
the first two months of the program, Monette said that officers have only given
out a ticket for using tobacco products on campus and that the program is
progressing smoothly.
“Since
the ban has been in place there’s been one violation,” Monette said. “It was last Saturday (Oct. 8, 2016)... There
really haven’t been any issues that I’m aware of. From conversations I’ve had with law
enforcement personnel and faculty and staff, everybody is for this. It’s a lifestyle change and everyone supports
it. It’s not just enforced by the police department, it’s being enforced by the
faculty, the staff and the students who welcome it.”
Monette
said he did not know any details about the one ticket given out.
Even
with the MSU football season in full swing, MSU police has been able to work
with tailgaters and fans visiting the university to cut back the use of tobacco
products, even if some people aren’t always compliant.
“Our
officers have common sense, patience, and discretion when they’re dealing with
violations,” Monette said. “They are
very professional and are thorough when explaining things to people, and it’s
up to their discretion which route they’ll take but most often they will
educate people.”
Sophomore
criminal justice major Ana Rodriguez, however, said the ban doesn;t DOESN’T, INSTEAD OF DOESN:T stop her
from lighting up.
“I
smoke less on campus,” Rodriguez said. “But not really.”
Rodriguez
also said she’s done less studying on campus and have used less on-campus
resources because it is inconvenient for whenever she wants to take a smoke
break since there are no designated smoking areas on campus.
“I
used to smoke like after class or before, or while studying but I don’t do that
anymore because it’s hard to get away with smoking in public areas,” Rodriguez
said. “I’m not bothering anybody else…
at the end of the day, I leave campus because a fine isn’t worth it for one
cigarette.”
Some
of the resources that MSU has sponsored as a part of the tobacco ban include
individual coaching, cessation programs, and separate tool kits for MSU
students, faculty, and supervisors.
In
addition to MSU’s initiative to improve the overall health and well-being of
those on-campus, the ban is also set to help reduce pollution created by
cigarette butts, according to the university webpage.
Now
that two months have come and passed in the inaugural year of the university’s
ban on tobacco products, Cody said the university has received a minimal amount
of negative feedback and that little to no revisions could be made to the ban
in the foreseeable future.
“To be
honest we have not received a large amount of feedback,” Cody said. “I think most people have had the heads up
and the leeway time to adjust. We’ve
only received a handful of emails and complaints. It just shows that people
were ready for this change.”
Word
count: 866
Sources:
●
Web:
○
edu/articles/2016-ready-to-quit-breathe-easy
●
People:
○
Jason Cody
■
MSU spokesperson
■
Phone: (517) 432-0924
○
MSU police captain Doug Monette
■
Phone: (517) 353-3162
○
Ana Rodriguez
■
Political science, pre law major
■
818-335-0557
ASSIGNMENT GRADE: (REDACTED)
INSTRUCTOR COMMENTS: EXCELLENT STORY STRUCTURE HERE AND
GENERALLY GOOD SOURCING AND ATTRIBUTION AND STATISTICS. AS NOTED BEFORE WE
NEEDED A NEUTRAL EXPERT. AND IT WOULDN’T HAVE HURT TO TALK TO MORE STUDENTS –
SMOKERS AND NON-SMOKERS ALIKE – TO GET THEIR RANGE OF VIEWS ON THIS ISSUE. STILL,
THIS IS A GOOD START.
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