The role of ASUI is to represent the interests of the student body to University of Idaho departments and administration, as well as external entities such as the Idaho State Board of Education and the Idaho state legislature. In following its mission, ASUI unanimously passed a resolution to represent the 966 students who said in the 2013 ASUI spring election survey they would prefer a change in UI’s current tobacco policy
The resolution seeks faculty senate action in creating a committee to review and possibly revise the current campus smoking policy and to address the health-related issues regarding secondhand smoke, ASUI Director of Policy Jim Martinez said.
“It’s very important to point out that we as ASUI are not supporting a specific change,” Martinez said. “But we are letting that go to a committee of the faculty senate — that will hopefully be formed. As undergraduates, we make up a large portion of the student body but there’s also so many more voices to be heard and that’s why we called for representatives from faculty senate, staff affairs, ASUI, GPSA and SBA, so all of the organizations on campus can have a voice in potential changes that could happen.”
Martinez and Director of Health and Wellness John Nuhn authored the resolution in response to the failure of a similar resolution passed last year that yielded no results.
ASUI President Max Cowan said there were no results from last semester’s effort because “there was no meat behind it.”
“It was saying this is a problem but didn’t ask for anything,” Cowan said. “Now, this resolution takes the opportunity to renew that call and say there is an issue on campus, that people who don’t want to breathe in secondhand smoke should be able to do that and that it’s a legitimate concern and faculty senate should address that concern.”
The current tobacco policy is concerning for UI students who choose to be nonsmokers but involuntarily breathe in tobacco smoke on campus during unavoidable tasks such as walking to class, Martinez said.
“The current policy is that you can smoke on campus but it has to be 25 feet away from buildings or air intake,” Martinez said. “But anyone who has been on campus knows it isn’t enforced, which causes students to be exposed to secondhand smoke regardless off any medical condition or smoking preference.”
The new resolution says secondhand smoke adversely affects people with heart conditions, asthma and other health conditions, Martinez said.
“We all know that smoking is bad for you — it’s an indisputable fact — and we’re not saying people shouldn’t smoke, what we are saying is that we are trying to protect the students who choose not to,” Martinez said.
Sponsor of the resolution, Sen. Anthony Filicetti, said he was a supporter of an all-campus smoking ban last semester but has since decided the best way for a policy change to take place is to instead support bringing the issue up for discussion.
“I’m interested in looking into what we can do to change the campus for the better of everyone,” Fillicetti said. “Who knows? The faculty senate may decide to change nothing about the campus smoking policy, but it’s worth looking into because it means we are doing our job right by representing the students at the University of Idaho.”
A copy of the resolution will be sent to faculty senate and Cowan said he hopes the organization will take ASUI’s effort in improving the campus community into account.
“What we’re hoping for is a conversation,” Cowan said. “What we want is a process where we can discuss this together, because that isn’t happening and that the truth is we need to engage in a meaningful dialogue about tobacco policy on our campus and we can’t do that if people aren’t willing to discuss openly all of the potential options. Yes, there are people who feel very strongly on both sides, but we all have to be willing to sit down at the table and have that conversation.”
Amber Emery can be reached at [email protected]