Antonio Hernandez
As an ex-smoker, I understand the harmful effects of the disgusting habit. I used to hate rules against smoking and believed they infringed on my God-given rights.
Now I get it.
When I see smokers, I weave and bob to dodge the incoming cancer. So, as I came onto the Pierce campus Feb. 4, I was relieved by the “new smoking policy;” however, I was also enraged.
I was relieved when I saw that it placed more smoking areas on campus, therefore giving smokers more of a choice and an incentive to follow the campus policy. I was disappointed that this was the best they could come up with.
Buttons and umbrella areas? That’s all the Academic Senate could come up with?It’s more like a collective “please don’t smoke on campus,” rather than an actual rule set.
I walked into my speech class to see piles of “Thank you for not smoking” buttons untouched, receiving only a few chuckles by students.They were right to laugh; this policy is a joke when compared to other schools’ smoking policies.
Moorpark Community College allows smoking in their parking lot areas. No begging came from them; they pushed smokers off campus.
Why not have sheriff’s deputies cite students who disobey the rules?
Of course we don’t have enough sheriff’s deputies to catch every single smoker, but word of mouth would take care of the rest.
Would you want to risk the chance of getting a ticket, just so you can have your nicotine fix?
This parody of a policy is simply a half-assed attempt to get smokers to obey. Smokers need to be pushed off campus, not nudged or poked into small areas fit for prisoners of war.
So, until the Academic Senate gets serious about this problem, I will join in this chorus of laughter. Ladies and gentlemen, the Brahma Bull has lost its horns.
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