Proposal expands smoke-free zones at Aims

Please refrain from puffing.

That's the warning student leaders at Aims Community College have given smokers who cluster along building entryways and outside doors.

The Student Government Association has looked into modifying outdoor smoking areas in recent years. After getting feedback from the Aims Board of Trustees and a series of student forums this semester, the leaders say they have recommendations that people on campus generally support.

The proposal must receive Aims management approval before being added to the campus' tobacco policy.

State law prohibits smoking within 15 feet of the main entrance to a building. The Aims proposal extends that to walkways between main entrances and parking lots, plus adding 15 feet to either side of the walkway.

Also, it recommends no smoking within 15 feet of all other building entrances.

"There's been a lot of complaints about smoking right outside the new buildings -- just to get smoking further away from the buildings," said Sharlene Hart, a member of student government. "As a student body, we wanted to do something that would make a difference, so students would know where they are allowed to smoke and where they aren't."

Aims this year opened the Allied Health and Sciences building and a new aviation technology building.

Another problem area is the walkway that extends from the entrance to the Westview classroom building to the parking lot.

Also, the proposal recommends that a 25-foot perimeter outside the early childhood center be smoke-free.

"There were a lot of buildings where there was an overhang so smoke was collecting in there," said Morgan Hungenberg, a student government member. "At Allied there's a bridge across an irrigation ditch to the building and people were stopping there to smoke. People had to walk through the smoke to get to the entrance of the building and their classes. So that was a major concern."

Hart said the four forums earlier this semester helped refine the proposal. A mix of smokers and nonsmokers spoke at the sessions.

"We got both sides of the story, and we came up with a (proposal) that would be fair for everybody," she said. "We tried to include all of the population."

Ron Fay, director of Student Life at Aims, said the Westview building has a walkway that's a couple hundred feet long to the parking lot. It has a retaining wall where smokers tend to congregate. He said it made sense to extend the smoke-free zone along walkways to 15 feet on either side.

"If you say it's just the walkway then people will stand just a foot off the walkway, and it kind of minimizes the effect of having it smoke-free," he said.

It's difficult to reach consensus about smoking matters, Fay said, but the student leaders developed a "fair proposal."

Pending approval, signs will be posted in affected areas to alert students to the changes.

"I think once the students see and understand, they'll comply," Fay said. "Most of our smokers, at least the ones that I've encountered, are very understanding that not everybody appreciates smoke."

Likewise, he said, most nonsmokers understand the rights of smokers, but just don't want to walk through wafts of smoke on the way to class.