Trying to Enfore the Policy

When trying to enforce this policy there has been talk about the best way to stop smoking on campus is to approach or hand the person who is smoking a card. However when a survery was given at UIndy, only 5.7% of them said they would politely tell them to stop smoking. This means that 94.3% of students would not approach them which clearly indicates that trying to get students to do this is would be not be very effective. This is a major issue because in this same survey 49% of people say they see someone smoking on campus daily. Clearly people are comfortable with smoking because they know they will not be punished since there is no enforcement policy. Would you approach a stranger on campus to tell them to stop smoking??

Live Smoke Free

An issue that UIndy is facing is telling people that they cannot smoke on campus when many of them are paying to live here as their residence. Are we allowed to tell people they can not smoke at their home? The problem that UIndy is facing is how to enforce this smoke free policy when people are living here. There has been a lot of push back from students on this issue towards the student government and this is a very difficult subject to address.

UIndy's Squirrel Campaign Push

UIndy's student government put in place a new program last year to try to increase awareness about the smoking campaign. Since Smokey the Bear was created to stand for wildfires, Uindy created Wheezy the Squirrel to represent health and wellbeing. The way that UIndy went about implementing this program was in week one they wanted to start showing the squirrel so they put it up in trees, drew footprints on the ground, and put side walk signs up. In week two they provided an explanation about why the squirrel was there. UIndy even created a Twitter page for Wheezy the Squirrel. In week three Uindy started an inspiriation week which hosted events for anti-smoking. In week four, there was an assessment done of how Wheezy the Squirrel worked on UIndy's campus. Many thought this was affected but still it needs be promoted again this year.

History of Smoking Ban at UIndy

The history behind the smoking ban: About 7-10 years ago the student government wanted to give designated areas for smokers on campus so the rest of campus can be smoke free. The student government did plenty of reseach and performed surveys to the students about what the students wanted. When they presented the data to the President of UIndy at the time, the President just decided to ban smoking on campus altogether with no enforcment plan. The work that the students did was tossed aside and therefore the student government did not get into the issue. This past year there was the UIndy Squirrel Campaign by the student government to increase awareness about the no smoking policy. However the debate now is whether or not this is really what the students want, when Butler and IUPUI have designated areas for smokers. Are we being culturally insensitive not having designated smoking areas?

Cigarattes Everywhere

If you look at this picture, this is taken on the back side (closer to Lilly) of Schwitzer. In the bottom of the picture that is a mound full of cigarette butts which are clearly not 8 feet from the door. At the University of Indianapolis we have a no smoking policy which includes the campus being a smoke free and tobacco free campus (pg 53 in your UIndy Student Handbook). However some people are not aware of this policy on campus so therefore the STOP Campaign is trying to increase awareness of this policy. I mentioned being 8 ft from the door because Indiana's law is that you cannot smoke within 8ft of any workplace but after the 8ft there is no real policy. Since UIndy is also a workplace there is a debate going on of whether or not Indiana's law should be upheld and let people smoke after the 8ft of campus doors or we need to better enforce UIndy's campus policy. What do you think??