Care for a smoke? Tobacco-free plan will snuff out cigarettes, other products on Nov. 19

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By Katie Perkowski

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On Nov. 19 students will be able to smoke in the middle of Rose Street, but not the middle of campus. Any students walking down South Limestone to White Hall Classroom Building may find themselves walking in a bike lane instead of a sidewalk in order to smoke. On Nov. 19, UK will be a tobacco-free campus, meaning no student, faculty or staff member may smoke or use any tobacco products on UK property.

The tobacco ban prohibits all forms of tobacco, including hookah, cigarettes, cigars and smokeless tobacco, Ellen Hahn, co-chair of the Tobacco-Free Campus Task Force, said. The boundary will be the contiguous campus and there will be no designated smoking areas. The policy will extend to all UK owned, operated and leased properties in Fayette County, Hahn said.

Megan Abell, an undecided freshman, said she smokes on campus about two to three times a day.

“I do think it’s not fair at all because if you’re a smoker there should at least be smoking areas or something,” Abell said. “Some people are really addicted and will need a cigarette between classes so it could affect their learning abilities.”

If a student is seen using tobacco on campus, he or she will be asked in a “kind, firm way” to stop using the product and to leave the campus to do so. If a student clearly does not know of the ban or forgot about it, then they will not be punished, Hahn said.

“We want to create a culture of compliance,” Hahn said. “And given that very few people use tobacco products on our campus, I think that’s very doable.”

Hahn said if a student is found to be persistently violating the ban, their name will be forwarded to the Dean of Students and the Student Code of Conduct will be enforced.

If a student is found responsible for a violation of the Code, then the Dean of Students Office will determine a sanction to be imposed, according to the Student Code of Conduct.

Charlie Lockhart, a music performance senior, said he thinks some people will obey the rule but others will not.

“I think that I’ll still find a way to smoke,” Lockhart said. “It will not encourage me to quit in any way whatsoever.”

The sanctions that could be imposed are disciplinary warning, disciplinary reprimand, disciplinary probation, social suspension, disciplinary suspension, disciplinary expulsion and other sanctions, which include ending a residence hall contract and restriction of access to certain parts of campus, according to the Code of Conduct.

“I think some people will still smoke and others will follow the rules but I think that there are a certain amount of people that will continue to break the rule,” Lockhart said.

Hahn said the Task Force is not considering implementing fines at this time.

The Task Force will conduct trainings on campus for groups of students and employees about the policy and how to talk with people about it, Hahn said.

Hahn said a UK committee conducted a random sample survey at the end of last semester. With a random sample of about 1,400 and 338 respondents, 64 percent of the students who responded said they felt positive about the tobacco-free policy.

Hahn said the reason the committee sent it to such a small sample of the campus population is because the committee had a very short period to conduct the survey before students went home for summer.

“I think there is a plan to do some more surveying,” Hahn said.

There will be black signs posted around UK’s campus announcing the university’s tobacco-free policy, Hahn said. The signs will have a universal no smoking sign in the middle and will be posted all through campus.

“It’s definitely going to encourage me to quit because I’ve been wanting to quit and I guess this is just the right opportunity to do it,” Abell said.

Despite the looming deadline of Nov. 19, Hahn believes the committee will be prepared to enforce the ban.

“Our task force has been meeting ever since January and we meet just about every two weeks and committees are also meeting so there have been a lot of decisions made and a lot of plans made,” Hahn said. “We feel good that by the 19th we will be ready.”

By Katie Perkowski

On Nov. 19 students will be able to smoke in the middle of Rose Street, but not the middle of campus. Any students walking down South Limestone to White Hall Classroom Building may find themselves walking in a bike lane instead of a sidewalk in order to smoke. On Nov. 19, UK will be a tobacco-free campus, meaning no student, faculty or staff member may smoke or use any tobacco products on UK property.

The tobacco ban prohibits all forms of tobacco, including hookah, cigarettes, cigars and smokeless tobacco, Ellen Hahn, co-chair of the Tobacco-Free Campus Task Force, said. The boundary will be the contiguous campus and there will be no designated smoking areas. The policy will extend to all UK owned, operated and leased properties in Fayette County, Hahn said.

Megan Abell, an undecided freshman, said she smokes on campus about two to three times a day.

“I do think it’s not fair at all because if you’re a smoker there should at least be smoking areas or something,” Abell said. “Some people are really addicted and will need a cigarette between classes so it could affect their learning abilities.”

If a student is seen using tobacco on campus, he or she will be asked in a “kind, firm way” to stop using the product and to leave the campus to do so. If a student clearly does not know of the ban or forgot about it, then they will not be punished, Hahn said.

“We want to create a culture of compliance,” Hahn said. “And given that very few people use tobacco products on our campus, I think that’s very doable.”

Hahn said if a student is found to be persistently violating the ban, their name will be forwarded to the Dean of Students and the Student Code of Conduct will be enforced.

If a student is found responsible for a violation of the Code, then the Dean of Students Office will determine a sanction to be imposed, according to the Student Code of Conduct.

Charlie Lockhart, a music performance senior, said he thinks some people will obey the rule but others will not.

“I think that I”ll still find a way to smoke,” Lockhart said. “It will not encourage me to quit in any way whatsoever.”

The sanctions that could be imposed are disciplinary warning, disciplinary reprimand, disciplinary probation, social suspension, disciplinary suspension, disciplinary expulsion and other sanctions, which include ending a residence hall contract and restriction of access to certain parts of campus, according to the Code of Conduct.

“I think some people will still smoke and others will follow the rules but I think that there are a certain amount of people that will continue to break the rule,” Lockhart said.

Hahn said the Task Force is not considering implementing fines at this time.

The Task Force will conduct trainings on campus for groups of students and employees about the policy and how to talk with people about it, Hahn said.

Hahn said a UK committee conducted a random sample survey at the end of last semester. With a random sample of about 1,400 and 338 respondents, 64 percent of the students who responded said they felt positive about the tobacco-free policy.

Hahn said the reason the committee sent it to such a small sample of the campus population is because the committee had a very short period to conduct the survey before students went home for summer.

“I think there is a plan to do some more surveying,” Hahn said.

There will be black signs posted around UK’s campus announcing the university’s tobacco-free policy, Hahn said. The signs will have a universal no smoking sign in the middle and will be posted all through campus.

“It’s definitely going to encourage me to quit because I’ve been wanting to quit and I guess this is just the right opportunity to do it,” Abell said.

Despite the looming deadline of Nov. 19, Hahn believes the committee will be prepared to enforce the ban.

“Our task force has been meeting ever since January and we meet just about every two weeks and committees are also meeting so there have been a lot of decisions made and a lot of plans made,” Hahn said. “We feel good that by the 19th we will be ready.”