Written by: Jordan Hill

College campuses across the country are banning smoking completely. While many believe this to be a lifesaver, is it really going to work as well as everyone thinks it will?

At VSU, smoking is allowed on campus but not within the facilities, such as residence halls and offices, and not within 50 feet of the entrance to any building, according to the Housing and Residence Life and the Event Services Policies and Procedures.

Many universities have already banned smoking on campus and more universities are now considering it because of health reasons. Campuses think because they are banning smoking that people will stop smoking on campus. This is an unlikely occurrence.

Eric Koonce, a graduate of Armstrong State University, realized that exact problem while he was working with the university to ban smoking on campus.

“We tried to set barriers, that’s the thing,” Koonce said in an interview with Georgia Public Broadcasting. “First, the University had areas where you could smoke, and we felt like that wasn’t being followed. But I just think be consistent about the rules. Be like, ‘Hey, you know, no smoking right here, please.’ I’m not saying you have to write anybody a ticket or things like that. But just keep it consistent. Keep it firm.”

I do believe smoking is harmful, but to completely ban it from campus is pointless. If students don’t follow the rules that mandate smoking in certain areas now, why do universities think that students won’t rebel against the no-smoking-on-campus rule?

My suggestion would be for universities to provide one specific place on campus where students are allowed to smoke, somewhere away from buildings and the main traffic of students.

However, who’s to say that will work? Until universities, VSU included, start enforcing the rules that are already in place, there is no need in creating a stronger rule that will work as poorly as the first.

Students will rebel against any rule that they disagree with. If universities do not enforce the designated smoking areas that are already in place or create a new smoking area away from students, smoking will continue on campus, whether it is forbidden or not.

Written by: LaShawn Ogelsby

If you hang out with friends on campus or are just waiting for a class to start outside of a building, chances are you tend to see a bunch of cigarette buds lying on sidewalks, outdoor tables, near doorways, etc.

Many times I have gone to sit outside to relax and enjoy different activities in the fresh air, and then someone comes along and feels the need to smoke in the space I was already occupying. I am a patient person, so I can usually wait for them to finish their cigarette and leave. On the flip side, I end up either having to give up by going back indoors or moving to a different area entirely because, in my experience, one smoker usually attracts another.

The University of Illinois at Chicago, Darton College, University of Michigan, Georgia Northwestern Technical College and Armstrong Atlantic State University are just a few colleges on a long list of campuses that are smoke free.

The University of Michigan gave out surveys to students, faculty and staff smokers after they became a smoke-free campus in July of 2011. The survey informed them that many smokers on campus had either reduced their smoking intake or quit completely.

On Aug. 28^th, 2013, to raise awareness of the effects of smoking on campus, volunteers at the University of Illinois searched and picked up all cigarette and tobacco litter scattered over the campus grounds. Within two hours of cleaning up, the students recovered over 20 pounds of litter.

Cigarettes are bad for the environment as well. According to the University of Illinois, the majority of litter comes from cigarette butts. Cigarettes contain harmful substances that are not only dangerous to smokers and bystanders but also to the environment.

Smoking is something students shouldn’t have to worry about while at school. I have witnessed students complain about having to sit next to a smoker in class who doesn’t smell too appealing.

These problems do not apply to all smokers, I know, but if there were no smoking on campus, there would be less of a chance of all these different instances occurring. I think, and hope, that if this smoking ban goes into effect, it will encourage people to quit smoking.