A policy implemented Tuesday by Lansing Community College designed to stop smoking on campus was greeted with a mixed reaction from students and staff.
The policy follows a train of LCC non smoking measures that began with a smoking restriction inside campus buildings in 2000, said college spokeswoman Ruth Borger.
The new measure restricts smoking on the sidewalks and grounds of the campus, excluding public sidewalks and areas not owned by the college. Borger said she doesn’t anticipate problems with the policy in general. She said some of the negative attention focused on the smoking policy is a result of miscommunication.
“This is just to keep smokers away from all the doors,” she said. “This is a compact campus and the smoke can get into the basements and other places.” She said the policy won’t be backed with punishments.
“We want to raise awareness of the policy,” she said. “We will tell them about the policy and ask them to smoke on the sidewalks - and it’s not that huge of a walk.”
But LCC student Steve Royce, a smoker, said he thinks the policy infringes on his personal rights.
“I don’t like it at all,” he said. “It makes me feel like I’m in high school again with this non smoking on campus. I can’t even smoke outside during my break between classes anymore.”
MSU Trustee Colleen McNamara said it is unlikely that a similar policy will be initiated on the MSU campus in the near future.
“It’s definitely not something I would propose,” she said. “I’m uncomfortable with the policy because smoking is legal.”
She said, though she is not a smoker, she thinks students should be able to smoke on campus. “On a campus the size of ours, if a student wanted to smoke, where would they go - across Grand River?” she said.
LCCemployee Sherry Kwiatkowski stood by a cement ashtray on the sidewalk near LCC, twisting a cigarette between her fingers. She said, though she doesn’t have a problem with the policy, the longer walk to smoke in the winter could create some problems.
“Hopefully, I’ll be quitting smoking by then,” Kwiatkowski said.
LCC custodial employee Brandy Ruthruff said the new policy has already caused her to cut down on her number of cigarettes. “It’s a lot more exercise to walk all this way,” she said, adding that the policy is good for the appearance of campus.
“We have hundreds of ashtrays on campus,” she said, “but no one puts their cigarettes there. If they had more respect, it wouldn’t have gone like this.”
Nonsmoking LCC student Carrie Defever said smokers on campus never bothered her in the past.
“I feel bad because it gets cold outside and they have to go that much farther,” she said.
Staff writer Amy N. Blaszyk contributed to this report.
