It is impossible to walk around campus without running into one or two smokers.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, around 20.5 percent of Louisiana’s adult population smokes cigarettes regularly.  This means out of about 15,000 students at our university, around 3,100 students smoke.
With the potential of a complete ban of smoking on campus, the smokers of Southeastern need to understand their effect on this policy change. The entrances and exits of each building are not approved areas to smoke.
In fact, Southeastern’s smoking policy states, “Persons choosing to smoke outside university buildings and facilities should avoid the immediate entrance and exit areas to prevent subjecting others to secondhand smoke.”
It is the responsibility of the individual smoker to understand and follow the school’s smoking policy. On campus this is not being done. To enter Fayard Hall, an individual is subjected to a wall of secondhand smoke, as both sides of the main entrance have become a haven for smoking students.
Cigarettes are not healthy. They are capable of exposing nearby individuals to over 4,000 chemicals, including around 80 suspected carcinogens. Individuals sensitive to secondhand smoke can experience sneezing, coughing, headaches and many other symptoms from exposure to cigarettes.
No one wants to be sick in class, certainly not from something that can be prevented through respect for our fellow students.
As of August 2003, Southeastern became stricter on their smoking policy, to little or no effect. Students, such as myself, with sensitivity to secondhand smoke have adapted to avoid the designated smoking areas. As an individual who does not smoke, I was made aware of the back entrance of D Vickers Hall, and I was told to avoid it unless I wanted to choke down some fumes for myself.
Other designated smoking areas include the north side of Garrett Hall, the east side of Fayard and the north side of the Sim’s Memorial Library.
By designating these areas, Southeastern attempted to protect the rights of smokers and nonsmokers by giving both parties suitable areas to do whatever they like to do.
The issue is not simply that these individuals smoke. The goal is not to take away the rights of these smokers. The goal is to establish a respect for the rights of all students, regardless of their health choices.
Smokers have a right to smoke, as it is a common addiction, and a comfort to combat the stresses of daily life. Non-smokers have a right to their health choices, including the avoidance of secondhand smoke.
The faculty of Southeastern is not excluded from this policy. Actually, since Southeastern is their workplace, when a Southeastern student worker or faculty member smokes in areas not designated for this activity, they violate state laws as well.
It seems the lack of regard for designated smoking areas is a matter of laziness. The designated areas are out of the way for a reason. If an individual is too lazy to walk to these areas to smoke, then they should not be smoking. Especially since I have seen people go far out of their ways to replenish an empty pack. If you can take the time to go out and purchase cigarettes, you can take the time to go to a designated area. Otherwise, you need to evaluate the importance of the addiction, and either wait until later, or quit.
I do not believe the ban on smoking is the best option to fix our smoker versus non-smoker issues on campus. A simple respect and enforcement of policy would be efficient. Smokers should respect the policy of the university and follow the rules. Non-smokers should avoid the designated areas and let smokers smoke.