University physician Beth Alexander said she is delighted students recently have taken up the issue of smoking on campus after her office has been discussing it for several years.

But she said the university needs to find a way to continue to support the people who are smokers to find other locations to smoke, as well as a method of effective implementation and enforcement.

“I don’t control what the university does, but I think it would make much more sense to create an environment of health,” Alexander said.

Alexander also addressed the possibility of creating smoking zones instead of banning smoking everywhere, but she called their potential creation a “mockery” of the proposal, saying the zones would force smokers to be exposed to higher toxins.

The issue also has been discussed this semester by both the Residence Halls Association, or RHA, and ASMSU, MSU’s undergraduate student government. RHA still is exploring the option of forming a committee to address the issue, while ASMSU discussed a bill to advocate for a smoke-free campus but ended up tabling the bill for more discussion.

Also discussed during the meeting was the nomination period for COGS executive board positions.
COGS President Stefan Fletcher said nominations will be open until elections are held at the COGS full council meeting on March 15.

At Wednesday’s meeting, several representatives nominated their peers for open positions for the 2012-13 academic year. Fletcher was nominated to a third term as president next year, after the council waived a clause in the constitution that would limit him to two terms.

The “COGS Constitution”: http://cogs.msu.edu/constitution.php states no person can serve more than two full terms in the same position unless two-thirds of the council waive the clause. Fletcher, who is in his second term, would otherwise not have been allowed to run for president again.

Nominated for vice president for internal affairs was College of Natural Sciences Representative Patrick True, and nominated for vice president for external affairs was Medical School Liaison Suzy Borkowski.

COGS Vice President for Internal Affairs Adam Lovgren, who facilitated the nominations, said several of the current executive board members will not be returning next year. He said joining the executive board is a great opportunity for new people to get involved in the inner workings of the university.

Nominations for executive board positions will be open until March 12 and can be sent to Lovgren at cogsvpia@msu.edu.