Faculty, staff and students debate campus tobacco policies

by Tara S. Donahue

The presidential and vice presidential ca ndidates were not the only ones debating controversial topics last week. During last Thursday's Campus Conversations, faculty, staff, administrators and students discussed the controversial issue of selling tobacco on campus.

Dowdy

The Student Government Association passed a resolution in November 1999 stating that they did not support the removal of tobacco products by campus vendors after learning the Faculty Senate had taken the issue under advisement. Earlier this spring, the Faculty Senate passed a resolution banningthe sale of tobacco products on campus.

Currently, tobacco products are still sold on campus although no smoking is allowed in the residential halls or any university building.

Because no action has been taken, the issue is still open for discussion. For the 26 people, a group that included deans, the Provost, the chair of the Faculty Senate, other administrators in addition to staff and students who attended Campus Conversation, the topic proved to be controversial.

During the meeting, Dean of Students Larry Dowdy summarized the positions between the Faculty Senate and the students.

"On one side, the Faculty Senate has come forward and said it was a health issue. For the Student Government Association and the student side, it's more of a rights and priviledge issue," he said.

Representatives opposing the sale of tobacco on campus argued that it was, indeed a public health concern, not just for individuals who smoked but for those who inhaled the second-hand smoke.

A member of the Faculty Senate summarized other issues the senate considered last year before making their vote.

"We looked at ethics, morality and comfort level. No one took the stand that they have to dictate to students" if they should smoke or not smoke, he said.

Ethically, the senate decided that they did not want to promote the selling of a product with the potential to harm human beings when they voted to ban the sale of tobacco products, the member added.

The majority of the students at the discussion argued that their voice should be strongly considered in the decision, and even if the school stopped providing tobacco products, especially cigarettes, the smokers would go elsewhere to purchase the products, even though it would be an inconvenience.

"For people who don't have cars, getting off campus is a major problem," one student argued.

Security was also an issue of concern. Walking late at night is not safe, several students said. And the places where cigarettes are sold, such as Mapco on West End, are not in secure areas.

Students having the right to buy cigarettes was another topic of discussion. Pamela Ferguson, president of the SGA, added that it came down to a question of "health or liberty." If tobacco products could be taken away from them, what else would come next, students asked.

Both sides agreed, however, that more educational programs were necessary. One participant told the story of a friend who had quit smoking after seeing a picture in the Student Health Center of Brooke Shields covered in tar. Dr. John W. Greene, director of Zerfoss Student Health Center, volunteered to find more posters to post on campus.

Other potential compromises included selling nicotine patches next to the cigarettes in the Munchi-Marts and providing more assistance to students who wish to quit. Dowdy proposed that a policy be passed where cigarettes could no longer be purchased on the Commodore Card, which drew few objections.

Campus Conversations are sponsored by the Dean of Students Office to provide an opportunity for members of the Vanderbilt community to come together to discuss current issues on campus in a frank discussion. The group, which is open to the Vanderbilt community, meets Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. in Sarratt 363. Next week's topic will be race and diversity on campus.