Lail Stockfish / Roundup
As the semester progresses, the shock and surprise at the new “No Smoking Policy” on campus wanes off, but the disappointment still lingers.
For a former Moorpark College student, a good Calabasas Samaritan, and a frequent beach bum, Pierce was a breath of fresh air with wild trees and un-raked pavements. A safe haven from the familiar, anal-retentive, “keep off the grass, make sure the bushes are primed, and if you must be a mongrel, smoke in the parking lot,” philosophies.
Ever since California became the first state to define secondhand smoke as a toxic air pollutant, public opinion has followed with quick strides growing nearer to abolishing smoking all together, no thanks in large part to one-sided organizations such as the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Los Angeles.
But any attempt at changing this mindset would probably not only be retorted with an influx of hate mail and phone calls, but would deem this opinion unworthy.
The real issue at hand is segregation.
How many students will now be deciding between walking out to a parking lot or being on time to class? According to Beth Benne, director of the Student Health Center, “a survey is being planned using a sample size of about 900,” but there is currently no knowledge of how many smokers are on campus. She was also unsure of the effects not smoking will have on those addicted to cigarettes.
Shouldn’t Pierce consider these things before implementing such a policy?
If this is because the smoke smells bad and that bothers people, then it should also be required that all students wear deodorant, take breath mints, and splash themselves with a reasonable amount of perfume.
If it’s for health reasons, Pierce may want to practice consistency and ban the selling of processed, ridiculously high caloric foods on campus and remove the 20 plus vending machines.
Also, campus police should be instructed to cite and arrest anyone who shows up to school in a hummer. Better yet destroy all the parking lots and set up bike stands instead after enforcing a no driving to school policy.
But the fact is that none of the above recommendations to promote fairness could be enforced without sparking serious outrage. It would be ridiculous, just as ridiculous as this no smoking policy.
So to be reasonable, Pierce should reinstate the previous policy, and those who don’t want to inhale second hand smoke can step to the side.