Ball State...A Smoke-free Campus??
That's right. As of March 17, 2008, the Ball State Campus is set to be smoke free. President Gora sent out a campus-wide email earlier this month stating this news. After much work from a Business Fellows team, the idea was recently passed and a date was set. One of my good friends and fellow University Singers, Tara Presley, was a part of that team. A rather large petition was set to work, needing hundreds if not thousands of signatures. I, being a big advocate of places being smoke free, eagerly signed it. I, for one, never have been able to comprehend why people smoke. It's expensive, it smells, and, oh yeah, it kills. I just don't get how after all these years of statistics, people choose to start smoking. I mean, I'll always be one of the first to say "let people do as they please," but only to the extent of it affecting me. For instance, it never fails that as I'm walking to class, I get stuck behind a smoker. No big deal, I can just speed up a bit and pass. But with the number of smokers, I usually just pass one and end up behind another.
Speaking of the number of smokers, I can see how this can turn against Ball State. My biggest question is how they expect to enforce this new rule. There are a lot more students than Ball State officials, and there are a lot of easy ways to escape being caught. Also, prospective students may see that the campus is smoke free and be turned away. I could only hope that this new rule assists in helping more students kick the habit. From just a bit of research, it's estimated that at the rate of smoking "popularity," 1 in 3 young smokers will die because of a tobacco-related disease. Also, one in every 5 deaths is because of tobacco. I don't know about you, but that's enough of a stat to keep me from starting...
I honestly couldn't be happier that this new rule was passed. I know it will cause some problems around campus, but it's obvious that the majority of the campus approved it or it would not have been passed. I would love to hear your opinions on this topic if you'd like to share them. Until next time... *breath of clean, fresh air*...enjoy!