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Smith College has a responsibility to
its employees and students to provide a safe and healthful environment. In
the process of developing our recommendations,
we considered the self-governance policy in the residences and the rights of
smokers.
While the committee recognizes the uniqueness
of Smith College's semiautonomous housing system and the rights of those who
choose to smoke, we concluded that
the rights of smokers were outweighed by a myriad of facts. They are listed
below, along with other facts that we considered in our deliberations.
In 1986 the Surgeon General reported
that tobacco use in any form, active and passive, is a significant health hazard.
In
1992 the Office of Health and Environmental Assessment of the U.S. EPA
classified environmental tobacco smoke as a Class-A carcinogen. In the
same study, the
EPA estimated that some 3000 lung cancer deaths per year among nonsmokers
are attributable to environmental tobacco smoke.
According to the Surgeon
General, each year environmental tobacco smoke causes 150,000-300,000 lower
respiratory tract infections, such as pneumonia
and
bronchitis, in children.
Nancy Asai of Residence Life said that within
the last two years, a remarkable increase from incoming new and transfer
students reported
having asthma
and allergies in addition to those who prefer smoke-free living quarters
to avoid
second-hand smoke. She also stated that among reasons for student
room change requests, there has been an increase in the number of students
reporting dissatisfaction based on health reasons and second hand
smoke issues in
the
houses.
Smith College residences are older buildings with
poor ventilation systems.
No ventilation system currently in existence can eliminate 100%
of second-hand smoke and its particulates.
In 2000 the American
College Health Association revised its guidelines on "Tobacco
on College and University Campuses" to include: "7.
Prohibit smoking in all residence halls, dormitory facilities
and other
campus owned housing
and 6. Prohibit smoking within 20 feet of any entrance of any
campus building."
The OSHA Technical Manual includes smoke
from cigars, cigarettes, and pipe tobacco in its list of major
indoor air contaminants.
Tobacco smoke can
irritate the respiratory system and, in allergic or asthmatic
persons, often results
in eye and nasal irritation, coughing, wheezing, sneezing,
headache, and related sinus problems. People who wear contact lenses often
complain
of
burning, itching,
and tearing eyes when exposed to cigarette smoke. Tobacco smoke
is a major contributor to indoor air quality problems. Tobacco
smoke
contains several
hundred toxic substances including carbon monoxide, nitrogen
dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, formaldehyde, ammonia, benzene,
benzo(a)pyrene, tars, and nicotine.
Most indoor air particulates are due to tobacco smoke and are
in
the respirable range.
We recognize
that Smith College's housing system is unique. Residential living is an integral
part of students' education. In keeping with
this philosophy,
traditional undergraduates are expected to live on campus for four
years. Each house is self-governing, which gives the students in the
house the
opportunity to decide on their own rules and their own methods for
holding each other
accountable.
However, the self-governance policy has been overridden in the past
when safety was the issue, specifically in the case of halogen lamps
and candles.
Twenty-five percent of all fatal fires
in Massachusetts in 1999 were the result of careless disposal of smoking materials
; careless smoking
is
the number
one cause of all fatal fires in Massachusetts and the United States--Boston
Globe, 4/02/01, State Fire Marshall's Office.
Although careless
disposal of smoking materials has not been a significant factor in fires
in the residences at Smith College
according to Public
Safety, the potential is ever present.
On October 13, 1996, a
fire in James House Dormitory at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst
resulted from the careless use of smoking
materials. Approximately 50 students
had to be relocated.
On May 12, 1996 a fire broke out at the
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house
after
a night-long graduation
party attended by 250-300 students and their parents. The
fire killed five people
and injured three. Investigators attributed the fire, which
started in the basement, to the improper use or disposal
of smoking materials,
which
most
likely ignited combustible materials.
On October 21, 1994,
five students were killed at Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania,
when a smoldering
sofa resulted in
a fire at the
Beta Sigma Delta house. The students had removed the batteries
from the house's smoke alarms, a common practice during
smoky parties.
Tobacco claims the vast majority of its victims
through lung and heart diseases, but each year roughly 1000 Americans
die in fires
ignited
by cigarettes.
The current
Smith College smoking policy includes among its purposes "to
provide a smoke-free workplace for all members of the College
community."
At the committee's request for information,
the College's counsel, Hamilton Doherty Jr., reviewed the Massachusetts General
Laws
and the City of
Northampton's Regulations on smoking in relation to smoking
in the residences at Smith,
and outside of buildings. He found that Smith could be found
in violation of some
sections of these regulations.
The current City Regulations
prohibit smoking in all "public places" and
in all "work places."
The Regulations define a "work
place" as any enclosed area in which
one (1) or more employees are employed. Included within the
work place shall be: "all common work areas at all places
of employment at all times, including but not limited to
the following: auditoriums, classrooms hallways."
Regardless
of whether student dormitory rooms are themselves considered
to be "private residences" for purposes of the
Regulations, common areas of the residence halls including
living rooms, hallways, dining rooms, stairways,
and rest rooms all fall squarely within the definition of "public
place" and/or
the definition of "work place" under the Regulations.
The
Regulations do not address situations where smoking in a
permitted area, such as a dormitory room, results in smoke
filtering
into
an area in which
smoking is prohibited.
If it is the policy of the Regulations
(and the Smith College policy) to provide a smoke-free work place environment,
it
should not matter
how smoke
gets into
that environment.
RADS employee: "Speaking from ONLY
MY EXPERIENCE HERE I can tell you that smoking at parties
is usually the worst case scenario. For example this past
weekend I was the manager on duty on Sunday morning. I
went to check on the
dining room at Comstock and found that it reeked of smoke
and had numerous cigarette butts that were extinguished
on the new floor. A sad sight for sure
after so many individuals worked so hard to improve the
living conditions for all the residents at Comstock and
Wilder. (I guess you can also probably tell
that I am a non-smoker.) I have also found that coming
in and out of residences that you sometimes have to go
through the smoking gauntlet to get into the
buildings. Again not a pretty picture in my opinion, especially
when you again see all the butts put out in front of the
doors. I guess the bottom line is
even if we have a total ban on smoking in all College buildings
you will probably have smoking outside the buildings and
of course don't know who will want to
become the smoking police especially for those that don't
comply. Definitely a tough issue." (Nov. 14, 2000)
Another
RADS employee: "Last year the smoking at Wilder House
greatly affected the Kitchen and Housekeeping staff. The "smoker" was
just off the dining room and the smell and the smoke from
those clove cigarettes,
as well as the regular ones, was intolerable at times.
We kept the dining room doors closed as much as possible
posting a sign indicating that the smoke from
the house was making us ill. Headaches, coughing and wheezing
were some problems we had. It was brought to the attention
of our immediate supervisor so she
was aware of the problem. I am sure you will hear more
from the people in this house that were affected. If you
have any questions please do not hesitate
to contact me." (Nov. 15, 2000)
A third RADS employee: "There
should be no smoking in any parts of the dorms." (Nov.
15, 2000)
Between 1960 and 1990, the death rate
from lung cancer among women increased by more than 400%, and the rate is continuing
to increase,
according
to a report from the Surgeon General.
In 1987, lung cancer
surpassed breast cancer as the number one cause of cancer deaths among women.
The American Cancer
Society
estimated
that in
1998, lung
cancer killed 67,000 women, and breast cancer killed 43,500
women.
More than 152,000 women died from smoking-related diseases
in 1994 according to a report from the Surgeon General.
Smoking
has a damaging effect on women's reproductive health and
is associated with reduced fertility and early menopause.
Cigarette
smoking is the single largest preventable cause of mortality and morbidity
in the United States, according
to
the Surgeon General.
Section 3 of the
Regulations requires that smoking be "prohibited
in all areas of establishments that are open to those who
are under the age of eighteen
(18)." The Regulations do not define the term "establishment," but
it seems to be a broad, general term for any building or
activity. If so, it would seem to apply to "all areas" of
the dormitories and to supersede the exemption for private
residences within the dormitories, since the dormitories
are open to persons under the age of eighteen. Read in
this way, Section 3 would require the College to ban smoking
in
all areas of dormitories, including
individual rooms -- Atty. Hamilton Doherty, Jr., Counsel
to the College.
According to a study
released in March 2001 by Harvard School of Public Health College Tobacco
Study, colleges can significantly
curb student
tobacco use
by offering smoke-free housing. The study revealed that
students who enter college as nonsmokers are 40% less likely to begin
smoking
if
they live
in smoke-free dormitories than are students who live
in unrestricted housing.
According to the American College Health
Association, efforts to promote tobacco/smoke-free campuses have led to substantial
reductions
in the
number of people who smoke,
the amount of tobacco products consumed, and the number
of people exposed to environmental tobacco hazard.
We
reviewed the smoking policies on a variety of campuses. Looking at earlier
policies in the Committee on Community
Policy files
and comparing
them
to those same campuses' current policies (a 5-year
time frame) most campuses' policies
have become more restrictive or now ban smoking entirely
in the residences.
Letter from Dr. Leslie Jaffe, Director,
of Health Services, to Raphael Atlas, Chair, Committee on Community
Policy,
dated Dec.
12, 1997,
calling for a
ban on smoking in the residences to follow up on
the ban on smoking in all college
academic and administrative buildings.
Letter from
the Directors of Health Services at the 7 sister colleges, to the Presidents
of the
7 sister
colleges,
dated
Sept. 30, 1998,
calling for
the
Presidents to make non-smoking the cultural norm
on their campuses.
According to Nancy Asai, there
are not enough nonsmoking rooms on campus to accommodate all
requests.
Over the last five years, the Residence
Life and Housing Office at Smith has seen a significant
increase in
the number of students
inquiring
about
smoke-free
houses for personal health and medical reasons
in their housing assignments, again according
to
Nancy
Asai.
Use of cigarettes by an average smoker
destroys about one tree every 2 weeks.--SmokeBusters,
England
72% of all the land used to grow
tobacco is in Third World countries, where starvation
is more
common
than in Western
countries.
Cigarette butts take about 25 years to
decompose--San Francisco Examiner, Sept.
13, 1996.
Tobacco production contributes
to deforestation, soil erosion, flooding, the greenhouse
effect and global
warming--"Tobacco industry has global
impact" TECC
News: a newsletter of the Tobacco Education
Clearinghouse of California, Winter,
1992.
About 40% of the world's tobacco
is cured by burning wood and 12% of all
trees
cut down
worldwide are
used for curing
tobacco--"Resisting tobacco in
developing countries: working papers
in support of the 8th world conference
on tobacco or health: building a
tobacco-free world," Buenos Aires,
Argentina, 1992.
Women
have been extensively targeted in tobacco marketing. Such marketing is dominated
by themes of an association
between social
desirability,
independence, and smoking messages conveyed through
advertisements featuring slim, attractive,
and athletic models. In 1999, expenditures for domestic
cigarette advertising and promotion was $8.24 billion-increasing
22.3
% from the $6.73 billion
spent
in 1998, according to the Surgeon General's 2001
report on Women and Tobacco.
According to Jay Yoder, Director of Investments,
in February 1997, the [Investment] Committee recommended--and
the
full Board of Trustees
approved--the
divestment
of all tobacco holdings and the prohibition of
future investment in tobacco companies.
332 students answered
the December 2000 survey " Smoking in the residences" sent
to all students by this committee, with more than
100 giving us written comments.
In the above survey, 34% of students
responding prefer
a complete ban on smoking in houses; 70% felt that
there should
be at
least one non-smoking
house in
each residence section on campus. Smokers were generally
against any real change in polices, but were sensitive to nonsmokers' needs.
One
complaint that came up frequently was the problem of smoking which goes on
immediately outside of
academic and
administrative
buildings,
as well
as the post office.
Both smokers and non-smokers
frequently said they were not able to get the kind of room that
fit
their needs
for smoking
or not
smoking.
They also wondered how any changes
could be enforced since current policies are sometimes
not enforced.
In the March 2001 Daily Jolt
survey sponsored by this committee, with 944 students responding,
32
% of students
responding
prefer a complete
ban
on smoking in
houses; only 33% did not want any change
made in the current policy.
1808 students
answered the November 2000 Residential Life survey. 1412 defined themselves
as non-smokers,
280 defined
themselves
as smokers,
and 110 did
not answer the question.
SGA forum: On February
27, 2001, the Student Government Association invited students
to
a forum on smoking
policies on campus,
particularly in residences.
A total ban on smoking was felt to be unfair
by most of those in attendance. Students
also reiterated
the problem
of getting
a smoking
room when
they were nonsmokers and vice versa.
CCWG:
At the February 6 and 28, 2001 Campus Climate Working Group lunches a major
topic
for discussion
was smoking
in the residences.
There was
much more
support for some change in the current
situation than had been heard at the
SGA Forum. Understandably
the
mixed nature
of
CCWG (faculty,
staff, administration
and students) may have had some effect
on the number and tone of students' comments.
At the
SGA forum,
with few
outsiders in attendance,
students,
particularly smokers, spoke their minds.
Putting all of this together, we give
you the following recommendations. The difficulty of enforcement
of
any new policies should
be addressed by the Council
and can be incorporated into the final recommendation.
We offer possible suggestions at the end.
1. A total
ban on smoking in all college-owned student residences effective August 19,
2002.
2. No smoking allowed within 20' of any
academic, administrative or residential building effective
immediately.
Remove ashtrays from directly outside
of buildings.
Place "no smoking" signage at exits of buildings.
3.
The committee considered the construction of smoking kiosks
for smokers. However, the Campus
Planning
Committee was not
in favor
of them for a
variety of reasons.
intrusiveness to the landscape.
requirement of paved walkways for handicapped access.
cost of construction and maintenance.
Recognizing the importance of giving
due respect to the personal freedom of smokers to smoke if
they wish,
the
committee urges
the President
and Senior Staff to consider creating a space
or spaces on campus where they
can continue
to do so without harm to others. 4. Student education.
First years, '05's
and later offer comprehensive smoking education, prevention and cessation
programs as part
of orientation. (Perhaps
part of Smith
Life & Learning
Program.)
Republicize programs for those trying to quit.
5. Additional
resources for smoking cessation programs be contributed
by the College
patches, gum
prescription medicines
Arguments have suggested that it would
be much easier to gradually phase in a ban on smoking in the residences.
According to Nancy
Asai, presently
at Smith,
2 out of the 35 houses (Lawrence and 150 Elm) voted
to be non-smoking houses, leaving the majority of
houses to
have
designated smoking
floors and rooms.
These designated areas are highly sought after during
room draw, leaving students with frustration that
there are
not enough no-smoking
rooms
in the houses on
each floor or wing. To respond to these needs, every
year the housing office has designated additional
no-smoking rooms. It has, however,
been impossible,
and has been met with opposition by students, to
provide increased
number of smoke-free accommodations in each area
of campus
and especially in
the variety
of living options available for our students. Students
are unwilling to vote no smoking houses for fear
of protest from
smokers that
their smoking
rights
would be violated. Our committee feels that Smith
College can not continue to condone the poisoning
of students
and
staff.
We also
cannot continue
to break the law and violate our own current policies
on workplace safety.
At forums and in surveys, students
who smoked were particularly concerned with a rapid
change in policy.
Phasing in a ban over a few years
would require targeting residences. We could conceive of no method that was
palatable to everyone.
Residences are students' "homes
away from home," ergo;
students deserve the right to smoke in their rooms.
Houses
are not private homes. The college is responsible
for providing a safe environment for their students,
an environment that is free
from harmful
chemicals
such as carbon monoxide, cadmium and the myriad
of other carcinogens
found in tobacco smoke. Cigarettes are a fire hazard,
whether in public designated "smokers" or
private rooms. Add alcohol to the mix and you increase
the chances that a cigarette will be carelessly
dropped and go unnoticed.
Students in private rooms
should be able to smoke; they aren't bothering
anyone.
In older houses, smoke can travel from room
to room. In fact, when Smith College asked if their
students
were bothered
by smoke from
private dorm
rooms in a
random survey, over 40% responded, "yes."
If
we ban smoking in houses, students will rise
up in protest!
Harvard, Wellesley and other
schools who have banned smoking have not experienced resistance
or protest.
In fact the
Director of
Harvard College Health Services
says it has not even been an issue at his
school.
Applications for admissions will decline
if smoking is banned in all the residences.
According
to the Director of Admissions at Wellesley, there has been no effect
in applications
numbers
at Wellesley following the ban
on smoking in the
residences.
Enforcement of this policy relies on
the thoughtfulness, consideration and cooperation of smokers and non-smokers
for its success.
Security and self policing (outside
of academic, administrative and residential buildings)
Residence life staff
(Residence Coordinators, Head Residents, House Community Advisors and Area
Coordinators)
Fines
Judicial board for students in houses and,
if necessary, referral to College Judicial Board.
Mary Lou Bouley, Chair,
Libraries
Nancy Asai, Student Affairs
Sandra Bycenski, ITS
Floyd Cheung, English Dept.
Rebecca Friedman '04
Maya Norton '02
Connie Peterson, Health Services
Erin Sikorsky '01
Cynthia Suopis, City of Northampton, Dept.
of Public Health
Julia Wells '03
Katie Winger '01
Approved by the President's Senior Staff
Spring 2001 |
