Facebook Instagram Twitter Youtube
  • News
    • Campus
    • Local
    • World
  • Arts and Entertainment
    • Performing Arts
    • Visual Arts
    • Music
    • Film
    • Fashion
  • Lifestyle
    • Campus Happenings
    • Community Happenings
    • Food
    • Business
    • Travel
    • Calendar
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Video
    • Globe News
    • What’s Bruin
    • Bruin Lens
    • Film
    • Music
    • Globe Shorts
  • Radio
Search
71.5 F
Salt Lake City
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
  • Newsletter Signup
  • Contests
  • About The Globe
    • Staff
    • Jobs
    • Issue PDFs
Facebook Instagram Twitter Youtube
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Privacy Policy
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
The Globe The Globe
The Globe The Globe
  • News
    • Campus
    • Local
    • World
  • Arts and Entertainment
    • Performing Arts
    • Visual Arts
    • Music
    • Film
    • Fashion
  • Lifestyle
    • Campus Happenings
    • Community Happenings
    • Food
    • Business
    • Travel
    • Calendar
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Video
    • Globe News
    • What’s Bruin
    • Bruin Lens
    • Film
    • Music
    • Globe Shorts
  • Radio
Home News Campus Health & Wellness proposes a campus wide ban on tobacco
  • News
  • Campus
  • Don't Miss

Health & Wellness proposes a campus wide ban on tobacco

By
Kachina Choate
-
December 6, 2012
0

A student smoking a cigarette and texting in front of an entrance to the TB building. Right behind him is a sign that says no smoking within 25 feet of the entrance.
The days may be numbered for campus smokers like Keith Chalmers. (Trisha Gold )
Salt Lake Community College campuses could be completely tobacco free as early as Fall semester, 2013.

Feedback will be taken until the end of the current semester, if you have feedback about this policy stop by the Health & Wellness office at Taylorsville Redwood Student Center Building or email peter.moosman@slcc.edu.

Over 800 U.S. colleges and universities have implemented full campus bans on smoke or tobacco, and SLCC Health & Wellness Services is moving to add SLCC to that list.

They have proposed a tobacco free campus policy that would require smokers to go to the nearest public sidewalk to smoke.

“The proposal that we are working on is a tobacco free campus policy,” says Peter Moosman, Health & Wellness health promotion specialist. “It makes SLCC completely tobacco free. So whether it is cigarette smoke or chew tobacco, all different types of tobacco will be included in this policy.”

As one reason for the policy change, Moosman cites the difficulty in enforcing the college’s current tobacco policy, which bans smoking within 25-feet of a doorway or an open window in accordance with the Utah Indoor Clean Air Act.

Health & Wellness aims to move beyond simply banning cigarette smoking

If implemented, their proposal would completely ban any form of tobacco product.

“Tobacco free verses smoke free is just kind of making the statement that we support a healthier lifestyle,” Moosman says. “Tobacco free campus kind of combats the duel using. A lot of people will smoke in an area that allows smoking, and when they can’t smoke they use snus or chew. Going tobacco free encourages people to go tobacco free.”

A 2011 survey showed that 86 percent of SLCC students believed that secondhand smoke is either extremely or very harmful.

Smokers at the college have mixed opinions about the proposed policy

“I want to see a healthier campus and if that means that I can’t smoke on campus I’m ok with that. That means that I will either need to find other places to smoke off campus or maybe that is the impetus I need to quit,” says instructor Matt Merkel.

“I’m kind of torn,” says Keith Chalmers, SLCC student and smoker. “I think something needs to be done but just asking (smokers) to leave is ridiculous.”

Chalmers says that Health and Wellness Department is taking the easy way out of a complex issue. He says that the school should consider other options other than just taking away smokers’ rights.

“This is a health thing, it’s not smokers’ rights thing. It’s not an anti-smoker thing. It’s trying to provide a healthy campus,” says Moosman. “Secondhand smoke is one of the leading triggers for asthma attacks and we have just about as many students with asthma as we do smokers.”

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires public entities to protect the rights of persons with disabilities

Asthma, even if it is controlled with medicine, falls within the protection of the ADA.

After collecting data and comments regarding the proposed policy, Health & Wellness officials felt that the best option for SLCC is a tobacco free campus policy.

“Give an option to people. Give us an area, like at airports there’s a smoking area.  That’s perfectly reasonable,” says Chalmers.

Moosman said that Health & Wellness Services looked into implementing designated smoking areas, and found that the only places that fit the law tended to be high traffic areas or locations that were close to public walkways.

“Our college campuses are so small that there really weren’t any locations to put the smoking stations,” says Moosman.

The cost of starting smoking stations at SLCC was also a factor

The estimated cost for each smoking station or gazebo was upwards of three thousand dollars.

“Another thing about the smoking stations is that it didn’t insure that non-smokers wouldn’t be exposed to secondhand smoke,” says Mooseman.

The proposal has been presented to the student government and to the Dean of Students.

The proposed tobacco policy is currently in the feedback process, and the next step is to evaluate the feedback and present the proposal to the vice president of the school. If the policy is approved, enforcement would begin during the Fall 2013 semester.

  • TAGS
  • Health and Wellness Center
  • No Smoking
Kachina Choate

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

Students discuss sexual assault awareness

Condom use an awkward but important topic

Biting lip

Stressed students can turn to Health and Wellness Services for relief

Condoms and communication equal safer sex

Bullying victim

Students speak out to prevent bullying

The Globe
ABOUT US
About The Globe
Staff
Jobs
Issue PDFs
FOLLOW US
Facebook Instagram Twitter Youtube
  • About The Globe
  • Staff
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
© 2025 The Globe