A push for a smoke-free campus kicked off the May 20 Academic Senate meeting, as two students gave public comment.
Soon-to-be transfer student Marcelo Cabrera was the first to present his case and introduced his desire to make Pierce College a smoke-free campus.
Cabrera shared his experience visiting University of California campuses such as UCLA and stated that schools like these set higher expectations.
“Why do we hold ourselves to a lower standard than UC and CSU districts?” Cabrera said. “I want to be in an environment where I am held accountable for smoking in an effective and supportive way. Unfortunately, that’s not the case at the moment.”
Smoking is prohibited in specific places on campus, such as classrooms, restrooms and cafeterias, according to laccd.edu, and additional areas may be designated as “Smoking” or “Non Smoking” by the chancellor or a college president.
“Smoking includes carrying, holding, emitting, or exhaling smoke from tobacco, plant, or processed substance, or the use of comparable personal, vapor-generating devices,” according to laccd.edu.
Later, the Senate heard a presentation from Pierce College Council President Brian Gendron regarding the smoke-free LAPC initiative.
Through a series of slides via Zoom, Gendron discussed how this initiative fits the campus’s mission statement. The initiative has garnered the support of 15 clubs and organizations along with 422 petitions. Though the goal is to end the presence of smoking and vaping on campus, Gendron maintains that the implementation of the policy will not revolve around policing the habit, but rather encourage education on the subject.
“The emphasis would be to help the campus develop non-punitive measures to implement policy changes in a fair and equitable way,” Gendron said.
Treasurer Kalynda McLean stated that as a community member, she understands why some individuals, like Cabrera, may be dissatisfied with Pierce’s current policies.
“That’s probably his personal opinion or his perspective based upon the policies that we have in place with regard to smoking,” said McLean, who did not think Pierce held itself to a lower standard. “However, I certainly can understand the desire to have a 100 percent smoke-free campus.”
For McLean, it is important to have proper education on the subject.
“With more education, we can determine, as a committee, how we want to proceed,” McLean said. “I think anything that’s going to help us all become more educated about the implications of being smoke-free or not being smoke-free is important.”
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) was also a topic of conversation in this week’s meeting.
Members of the Senate body noted how AI can be useful for professors, but can turn into a sticky situation to navigate in the hands of students, said Clay Gediman.
The AI discussion was followed by a prolonged debate on the best procedure to fill a future senate seat vacancy and a brief reminder of the upcoming Pierce College Student Awards Banquet on June 4 at 6 p.m.
