Smoking is absolutely unnecessary on a college campus. I would love to see some sort of committee willing to walk around Ferris politely asking those smoking to stop. Smoking is a choice you get to make for yourself, but the decision to smoke will never just affect your life. It will affect everyone and everything you encounter, plus it will also make you ugly and age faster than you have ever imagined. You will also need lots of Febreze because you will be smelly.
I hold my breath every time I encounter a smoker and avoid them when I can help it. I have used other entrances to buildings on campus just because a smoker was within the “proper distance” from the front of a building.
I do not care how far you are from an entrance. If a smoker is directly between you and where you are headed, students, faculty and staff will still smell, inhale and be subjected to second-hand smoke.
I do not hate people who smoke. It is the “smoke” I hate. If I happen to inhale second-hand smoke, you will hear me sneezing across campus. Smoking is gross, useless, and a waste of time.
Go do what you came to college to do: learn. Smoking is bad for you.
University of Michigan enacted a smoke-free policy on July 1 this year. It is not strictly enforced yet, but those who are still trying to smoke on campus are simply approached, asked to put out their cigarette and handed an information packet explaining the harms of their misdoing.
In my opinion, most smokers do not start smoking because they want to. Most start smoking because of peer pressure.
Smoking may have been the thing to do in the past, but it will never be the “in thing” again to a lot of people.
I worked at a restaurant where head managers and cooks smoked all day and continued to serve food and deal with guests while smelling like smoke in a “smoke-free restaurant.” Needless to say, I was lucky enough to quit before long, but the whole reputation of that restaurant is shot to “you know where” in my book.
My point is if you have something that causes litter, stinks up the place and harms everyone around you, what is the point of keeping it around?
If I can smell your last cigarette, I will probably end up sneezing. Hopefully I will not sneeze on you, because that would just be as gross as your smoking.
I hope Ferris considers a smoke-free policy. We need a little more common sense and courtesy around this place. n
I see your blatant disregard for facts and writing LiveJournal entries instead of articles holds through consistently. This is just as biased as your other article this past week, though it is far less controversial. There is a difference between a blog entry and an editorial.
This is just as biased as the other article that is currently under scrutiny. If you cannot see more than one side to an argument, why do you work at a publication?
Elizabeth,
Did you not notice this was called “War at Words?” Each writer was assigned to take ONE SIDE. Not to present all the information in a fair and balanced manner. There is more than one type of writing in a newspaper.
Yes. I know it is supposed to be a piece defending one position, but all she is saying in this article is “smoking is gross, I don’t like it. No one should do it.” There is still no reasonable defense of the position.
Quotes like: “Smoking is gross, useless, and a waste of time.Go do what you came to college to do: learn. Smoking is bad for you.”
She is simply pushing an anti-smoking agenda. I am not a smoker, but that doesn’t mean I want to see someone who wants something she doesn’t like going away just because she doesn’t like it. I am just as bothered by cigarette smoke as she claims to be in this article, but I do not cough and wheeze walking past someone smoking. I’d like to see her try to put together a committee to go around stomping out cigarettes. If that isn’t stepping on personal freedoms, I don’t know what is. Pun entirely intended.
I wouldn’t have worded it as harsh as Elizabeth but it would have been nice if the author gave facts or reasons as to WHY smoking is gross, useless, and a waste of time. WHY is smoking bad for you? WHY should Ferris consider a smoke-free policy? It would have made a more persuasive argument for their point of view and a better editorial. This opinions piece doesn’t persuade me, it just sounds like a person bitching about someone smoking around them. Who wants to read this garbage when we can smell it already?