Ledger

Issue date: 3/8/07 Section: News

From students to staff to administration, many people at the University of Washington Tacoma seem to be completely clueless or confused about the smoking ban handed down from the UW Seattle.

“Nobody told me; there are no signs up,” freshman Zach Lee, a smoker, said.

The new rules – which went into effect March 1 – go beyond state requirements, limiting smoking to only six designated areas on campus. Smoking outside of these areas is now considered a violation of university policy, and carries penalties ranging from “a warning to dismissal,” according
to Derek Levy, interim associate vice chancellor for Student
Affairs at UWT.

What’s not clear is who is responsible for enforcing these
rules or how penalties will be decided. When asked, UWT
Director of Facilities and Campus Services Milt Tremblay directed questions about enforcement and punishment to Levy. Levy directed these same questions to Tremblay. Both indicated that students who violate the ban simultaneously fall under the jurisdiction of campus safety, the Pierce County health department, Student Affairs and Tacoma police.

It is unclear how any of these agencies will specifically become involved in individual cases. It is hoped by administration officials that students and staff will selfpolice
the campus – educating and informing each other about policy and gently encouraging their peers to move to designated areas. “We can help each other to be good citizens,” Levy said. Dave Leonard, Environmental Health and Safety manager at UW Seattle was not alone in hoping that students would take it upon themselves to enforce the
guidelines.

“This can be enforced by campus security, the police department or the health department, but I hope peer pressure is enough… The biggest penalty I like to encourage is peer pressure… personal conduct is policed by peer pressure.”

But not everybody agrees that peer pressure is a good way to
enforce the new policy. UWT freshman Jennalise Geary, a nonsmoker, acknowledged smokers should have the right to smoke, but welcomes the new changes. However, she expressed reservations about approaching smokers
and educating them on the rules. “It’s awkward because it’s
their choice,” Geary said, “but it’s rude to walk through a puff
of smoke.”

For transgression of the ban by faculty members, department
supervisors are expected to impose disciplinary action. In
an e-mail obtained by the Ledger to several department heads, Beckie Etheridge, director of the Teaching and Learning Center said, “This new change will make
you wish you weren’t a supervisor… supervisors are responsible for ensuring that disciplinary action is taken for employees that don’t comply.” Etheridge’s e-mail further states that supervisors are also expected to prevent
employees from smoking in front of surrounding businesses, preventing them from “huddling on our neighboring business’ doorsteps.” One supervisor who received the e-mail, Media Services Supervisor Dana Clark, told student employees in a department meeting that, rather than deal with disciplinary action and paperwork, they would be summarily fired if it was reported they violated the ban.

The smoking ban, in force on both the Seattle and Bothell UW campus for over a year, went into effect at UWT despite concerns expressed by members of the UWT Health and Safety Committee as early as April of last year. According to minutes taken from the committee’s April 13 meeting, “…in consideration of our unique urban location and many public
areas, the Tacoma campus should have our own WAC [Washington Administrative Code] to be written locally by our administration.” This recommendation was then communicated to Leonard. Instead of exploring the  recommendation, a No Smoking Task Force created on the Seattle campus, opted to impose the restrictions from their campus to UWT without alteration, Leonard said. Beth Jeffrey, member of the Health and Safety Committee, said that administrators on the Seattle campus “don’t recognize [Tacoma’s] decision making bodies… They clearly don’t care, or if they do, there is no mechanism in place to do anything
about it.” In addition to confusion with how to enforce the ban, there seems to be a lack of communication between administration and students regarding the ban. Communication of the new policy was limited to a single press release March 2 on the UWT Web site.

“That’s pretty status quo on this campus,” junior Jennifer Mercado said. “Not just with smoking.” Mercado has heard about the new ban, but has no idea where the designated areas are placed. She seemed shocked to find out that in some instances, Tacoma police could become involved.
“People should know about it for sure, if that’s what the penalties are,” Mercado said. “I’ll be sure to stay in the designated areas.” The no smoking rule is the University’s effort to comply with the requirements of I-901, which passed in Washington State in 2005 and restricts outdoor smoking. Because the smoking policy in effect on UW campuses became illegal under I-901, a task force was formed on the UW Seattle campus to create a new WAC deciding where and how smoking could take place on all campuses. When the dust settled, UW Seattle had handed down a much stricter interpretation of the smoking guidelines than was required by state law.

More information about the new smoking policy
can be found at www.smokefreeuw.washington.edu

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