Today’s a Bad Day to Be a Smoker
RPI’s new tobacco-free policy goes into effect today. That means that no tobacco will be tolerated anywhere on campus. The email from HR below outlines that “progressive corrective actions” may be taken against students who violate the policy, so beware!
On another note, New York’s cigarette tax went up by $1.65 to $4.35 per pack today, meaning that a pack of smokes can cost about $8-$10. Yikes!
—-
To: The Rensselaer Community
From: Curtis N. Powell, SPHR
Vice President for Human Resources
Date: June 30, 2010
Re: Tobacco-Free Environment
As you know, Rensselaer is about to launch our new tobacco-free campus
initiative. Effective July 1, 2010, we are proudly joining more than 360
U.S. colleges and universities in providing a tobacco-free environment.
In enacting this initiative, the Institute is supporting a culture of
genuine respect for all members of the campus community, visitors, the
environment, and our institutional sustainability efforts. We also hope
to set an example that will encourage the Rensselaer community to
embrace a spirit of health and wellness.
As we transition to a tobacco-free institution, Rensselaer will support
faculty, staff, and students in their efforts to stop using tobacco
products. Smoking cessation classes will be available on and off campus,
and counseling sessions will be available through the Employee
Assistance Program. Additionally, all smoking receptacles will be
removed from the campuses during the week of June 28, 2010.
The tobacco-free initiative is reflected in significant changes to our
Smoking Policy, Human Resources Policy 800.3, which has been renamed
Tobacco Use, to reflect the health hazards beyond smoking
cigarettes. The Tobacco Use Policy includes a prohibition against using
all tobacco products on Institute property, including buildings and
entrances, Rensselaer facilities, properties, and outdoor areas. A copy
of the new Tobacco Use Policy will be available on the HR Web site.
Please note that the Policy includes Enforcement Procedures, which
provide for the use of progressive corrective actions for students,
faculty, and staff.
The Tobacco Use Policy will be disseminated broadly to the university
community with a Frequently Asked Questions page posted on the Institute
Home Page, articles and advertisements placed in campus publications,
notices in the Student Catalogue and Student Orientation Program, and
other venues.
During this change, we ask that all members of the Rensselaer community
support each other, and embrace a spirit of having a healthy living,
learning, and working environment.
Share
About damn time. Wasn’t the new GM going to fight this? That’d be hilarious.
Chris & all student readers,
As I promised in my campaign, I will be working to discuss all impacts of the new tobacco-free campus initiative with the RPI Human Resources department along with VP Curtis Powell.
I know from speaking with students that smoking had been a nuisance to many students within our past framework. The 25 ft. smoking from all dorms rule was not often followed and the rule allowing students to smoke directly outside of classrooms simply did not work. I do believe the new policy will be overall more sensitive to the larger population who would like to not have to navigate campus through tobacco-smoke. However, I am also thoughtful of smokers and general tobacco users; they may have a habit that they enjoy and cannot simply quit “cold turkey.”
I am working on an email to Human Resources and I plan to ensure that at the very least there will be plenty of support programs for tobacco-users that are trying to quit. I am also considering proposing certain location on campus that might be “tobacco zones.” More than anything I’d like to open the dialogue and see what HR is thinking.
To get more info about the initiative and read the exact policy (HR Policy 800.3) follow this link:
http://www.rpi.edu/about/tobacco/faq.html?artcenterkey=2746
I’d like to hear your input so send me any comments or ideas at gm@rpi.edu or post them here for discussion.
Thank you RPInsider for covering this new policy,
Ben Hunt
144th Grand Marshal
Here you can read the entire tobacco policy:
What about drinking? Alcohol should be prohibited everywhere on campus, but it is not. RPI should be Tobacco and Alcohol FREE. It’s only fair.
Something tells me that a ‘tobacco-free campus initiative’ won’t be open to consider tobacco zones, that defeats the purpose of the initiative.
Well, this should be yet another celebrated RPI Disaster. (Remember that time RPI totally didn’t shell out several grand on a music-sharing service that went belly-up immediately thereafter? Oh, wait…) Let’s consider the issue of chewing tobacco, shall we? I don’t think even the most rabid smoke Nazis are going to go around inspecting the mouths of every person who appears to be chewing SOMEthing while on campus. The fact that many smokers are faculty or staff can’t end well; jittery, irritable, or distracted professors will only turn courses into hellish semester-long nightmares.
And, cf. Miss Manners, “If someone wishes to line their lungs with blacktop, it may safely be assumed that they do so with full cognizance of the physiological consequences. To that end, however, smokers are cordially requested to keep their habit from offending others by exercising simple courteous behavior; e.g. smoking downwind, smoking in deserted areas, etc. Unless the smoker is behaving otherwise, it is inappropriate to interfere.”
I can’t imagine that the residents of the apartments at the corner of 14th Street and College Ave (across from Big Apple Pizza) are all too pleased with the “tobacco-free campus initiative” – I’ve passed by there on my lunch breaks since the policy took effect, and saw (multiple times) several people each time standing on that corner, smoking.
I have no problem with a tobacco free campus. The campus should be alcohol free too.
Does anyone have any baseline numbers of student, faculty, and staff tobacco users? Has the senate done a survey on that or is it part of institute health forms in such a way that the data could be calculated? I feel like this is pretty key information when developing a strategy to ban it from campus.
Why is it acceptable for RPI to prohibit smoking? Because it’s bad for your health? Because it bothers other people? If the former, why not prohibit energy drinks or fatty foods? If the latter, why not ban smelly perfumes, or spicy curry?
How can they call forcing people to give up their choices “a culture of genuine respect”? I don’t smoke myself, but if I wanted to give it a go, why force your own opinion down on me?
@Undergrad
The same can be said about a smoker, ‘forcing their own opinion down on me’ by smoking in the air that i breathe. RPI made a choice, and they decided to keep the campus air clean and the community more healthy, luckily for smokers there’s plenty of other places in Troy to smoke.
From what I’ve found online (admittedly not the best research possible), the air around a smoker outdoors is polluted up to six feet away from them. I would think a designated smoking area would be effective, albeit counterproductive to a “smoke-free” campus campaign. I am all for making the air cleaner and keeping unpleasant/unhealthy smells/pollutants away from those that don’t want them, but banning it 100% still does not seem fair to those on campus for 8-10 hours at a time.
Where was smoking the biggest problem, anyway? I only noticed people smoking a handful of times in the last few year, and those weren’t even near high-traffic areas. This whole thing seems a little high-handed to me.