Issue date: 10/22/09 Section: News

After the Student Senate meeting Sunday night, smokers might have to go farther from campus buildings to light up, due to the smoke-free resolution that will be voted on.

The resolution states that students must be at least 20 feet away from all buildings in order to smoke.

Student Senate President JoEllen Flanagan said the resolution came up about three weeks ago.

Sophomore Samantha Goode, director of Health Services for Student Senate, is involved with Community Alliances for Smoke-Free Environments (C.A.S.E) and originally sponsored the resolution. Goode did not respond to e-mails and phone calls from the Index requesting comment. C.A.S.E. provided Goode with a majority of the statistics in the resolution, Flanagan said. Student Affairs chair Senior Kristyn Potter now sponsors the resolution.

Smoking won't be banned altogether, but there will be more specific rules regarding where smoking is prohibited on campus. The resolution is not the same as a bill, meaning if it is passed, it will not become law, she said.

In addition to staying at least 20 feet away from all buildings, the rules include moving away from individuals who request it when smoking and refraining from smoking on major pathways during peak hours. Research about designated smoking areas for future use is planned as well.

Student Senate is a steppingstone for the resolution to be approved by the Board of Governors. The Board's policy does not include anything about smoking - only the Residence Life policy does. Technically, students who live off campus can smoke as close to buildings as they want, and the distance rule includes only residence halls, not academic buildings, Flanagan said. The

goal of the resolution is to make the smoking policies consistent, such as having to smoke 20 feet away from all buildings, she said.

Benefits from the resolution include increased respect between smokers and non-smokers, such as being courteous by not blowing smoke in someone else's face, Flanagan said. A disadvantage is that the resolution is not a student vote, so some representation is lost, she said. Students might feel as if campus is a prison and they aren't free to do as they choose, she said.

There are around 20 voting senators, while the Senate body consists of about 50 students. Flanagan does not have a vote on the resolution, but she does have a veto.

"It's looking at … [the vote] as, well, whose voice is very vocal that doesn't have a vote doesn't technically matter," Flanagan said. "So it's kind of like behind the scenes lobbying to make sure you get the majority of the votes to pass it."

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