With the impeding university-wide smoking ban around the corner, students are sounding off with both delight and discontent.
"It's a mixed response right now and very middle of the road," said Helen Cappuccino, assistant professor and surgeon at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. "We hear from people who are either widely for it or widely against it, and we get strong opinions from both sides."
The UBreathe Free initiative is part of a growing nationwide program that involves over 160 colleges implementing smoking bans on campus.
"The main focus of the program is to give students the tools they need to quit and make the environment as healthy as possible," Cappuccino said. "By de-normalizing smoking on campus, we will be able to take steps in helping students never start."
While Cappuccino and the rest of the committee in charge of the decision have made the objective of a smoking ban clear, many students are still skeptical of the program.
"For the upper administrators of UB to unilaterally pass this kind of rule, disregarding the fact that smoking is a personal choice and is not illegal, is an affront to students, faculty and staff alike," said Daniel Gvertz, a student at UB Law School. "What offends me the most about the smoking ban is the absolute disregard, not just for students, but for the university personnel who smoke."
While Gvertz's opinion resembles that of many who are against the ban, health and environmental cleanliness are on the minds of those who are pressing it.
"The big thing is that cigarettes really smell," said Tegan Leach, a sophomore undecided major. "When you walk by the garbage outside, the cigarette butts are still smoking. It smells terrible and it makes you start choking."
According to Sarah Eggleston, a sophomore sociology major, the policy seems fair because smoking is a detriment to health and students should try to lead healthier lifestyles.
"I don't have a problem with the people who smoke and can see why some of them would get mad," Eggleston said. "At the same time, it's just a healthier choice not to smoke."
According to Cappuccino, Health Services has already begun to offer 'quitting fairs' to give students an opportunity for information as well as free aid. The response at these sessions has exceeded all expectations, which further proves the upcoming ban is already having an effect.
"I think the ban will help people trying to quit finally stop," Leach said. "Other alternatives for nicotine, like gum and patches, make for a much healthier choice than cigarettes."
UBreathe Free has not only provoked a considerable response around campus, but even students on the Internet are getting involved. Eric Hillery, a UB alumnus, created a Facebook group dedicated to making the voices of those against the ban heard.
"Frankly, I feel the ban is really fascist and it's more about moral hygiene than public health," Hillery said. "To tell me that I can't smoke a cigarette in my car with free air on campus is more thought control than concern for my health."
Hillery was a smoker for three years and acknowledges that second-hand smoke isn't a good thing, but feels smoking is a personal freedom and not the only unhealthy habit on campus.
"If there is so much concern with public health, then why isn't there something done about campus cuisine first?" Hillery asked.
According to Gvertz, the administrators should not have the power to decide to ban something that is, in fact, legal, just because it's bad.
"I understand that smoking is bad, and second-hand smoke is quite annoying to those who don't smoke, but it just isn't right for the university to punish people for not living healthfully enough," Gvertz said.
For Hillery, the absence of choice is at the center of the problem regarding the initiative. A few protests are already in the works for smokers and non-smokers against the ban to come out and make their voices heard.
"There was a lack of process in formulating the ban, and the fact that it was never put to student vote means the community never got a fair chance to give a response," Hillery said.
Regardless of the current split stance by students and UB community members, the smoking ban is still on schedule for fall 2009, but as the new academic year draws closer, an increase in response from is expected to be heard from both sides of the fence.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
