By Editorial Board
Next Monday, ASUP will vote on a resolution that would recommend the administration make UP a smoke-free campus.
If your senator has done their job, you should already know about it. And if so, you should be disgusted.
The proposed smoking ban is a hodgepodge that does little more than take ASUP's time and energy away from discussing more meaningful issues. Perhaps university officers know something we don't - and if they do they should let the rest of us in on the secret - but we do not see smoking as a major problem on campus.
You'll probably inhale more carcinogens by walking through the campus parking lot than by walking by Franz.
There are students who stand on both sides of the issue, smokers and non-smoers alike. But without statistics to back the campus' opinion of a ban that would effect the whole community, who is to say what it would prefer? No extensive campus-wide opinion poll has ever been done on the issue of a smoking ban, and no one has seen it necessary to undertake one.
No proof as such undermines the power of the student body, whose will ought to be represented by their elected officials.
Furthermore, ASUP represents only students. Faculty and staff are not represented in ASUP, so by what right can the student body government legislate for the entire UP community?
Current restrictions already relegate smokers to separate areas outside and away from buildings and students, measures that do enough as they are.
The ban itself would offer no clear means of enforcement outside of peer-pressure; something we feel crosses the line. Students shouldn't have to play mother for each other when they are walking between classes.
Committed enforcement would mean avoiding any actions that enable smokers, namely taking away the butt containers, resulting in more trash on the ground. It would mean actually rounding up smokers - students, faculty, staff, alumni and visitors - and giving them a citation to punish flaunting the rules.
Just enforcement, in addition, would mean helping smokers at UP kick the habit. It's difficult to quit smoking, the best course usually consisting of medication and counseling. There is no way an already understaffed and underfunded Health Center could shoulder such an additional burden.
There doesn't seem to be much benefit to such a ban, outside of appealing to health-conscious prospective students. Blowing smoke, excuse the pun, like that is dishonest.
As we have stated before, this unnecessary marginalization of a relatively small number of community members is a borderline cruel waste of time. That time could be better spent lobbying for more funds for clubs and CPB events or tackling otherwise more pressing student concerns.
We strongly encourage any community members who share our opinion to talk to their senators. You can find your senators' contact information at https://pilots.up.edu/web/asup/senators. Better yet, you can go to the public meeting Monday at 4:30 p.m. in Shiley Hall 301.
And even if you do not share our views, you should get in touch with your senator and let them know what you think. If the representatives in a representative democracy don't act to reflect the will of the people, they aren't representatives. They're oligarchs.
