BOTTOMS UP, TOKERS If a student repeatedly breaks the law, they could be expelled.
SMC Smoking is proving to be a hard habit to break for students at Santa Monica College.
Even though a ban went into effect in July at all five SMC campuses, most returning students continue to light up in “the quad” and other high-traffic areas. Many smokers said they didn’t even know a ban was in place, while others complained about a lack of signage or brochures informing them about the change in policy. Most still adhere to the former rule, which prevented smoking within 25 feet of a doorway or open window.
“I didn’t hear anything about it,” said Will Greenwood, a freshman who has been attending classes at SMC since the summer semester.
“I hate smoking, so I think it’s a good thing to not allow it on campus, but I still see a lot of people doing it anyway,” said the 18-year-old Greenwood, whose parents smoked while he was growing up. “I’ve never tried it and I don’t want to have smoke going into my body. I ride my bike a lot and I’m very active, so the last thing I want is to have people smoking around me. “(The college) needs to do more to remind people of what the rules are.”
Since the ban was approved this summer, college officials admit they were unable to add it to the students’ fall schedules, which were already being printed. College officials were also focused on the opening of new facilities, such as the Madison Music & Performing Arts Campus, according to Bruce Smith, SMC’s public information officer.
“We are still in the process of putting up signs,” Smith said. “We do have a couple of banners and temporary signs, but little by little, we are putting more permanent signs up and moving the old ones out.”
On Wednesday, several students put the blame squarely on the school, pointing to old no smoking signs that do not mention the campuswide ban.
Understandably, SMC police — at the direction of the board of trustees and the college president — are not issuing citations, but rather educating students about the ban and removing ashtrays, said SMCPD Chief Gary Gallinot.
“There are a lot of people who are still smoking because it is a relatively new policy,” Gallinot said. “We are taking the approach of education and voluntary compliance. We just try and remind the students that this is for their benefit by protecting their health.”
It was the students who pushed for the ban in the first place, voting overwhelmingly in April 2007 to make SMC smoke-free. Of the 2,222 who participated in the student election, 62.9 percent voted in favor of the ban, with 37.1 percent opposed. SMC has more than 30,000 students who attend the school each year.
Those opposed to the ban cited the low turnout for the election as reason enough to not move forward with the proposal, while those who supported it used the results to back their claim that students gave the board of trustees a mandate.
Jason Van Buren, president of Associated Students, which pushed for the ban, said he and others in student government are doing the best they can to spread the word that the ban is not “an iron fist from the top of the administration down.”
“This came from the bottom up,” Van Buren said. “This was a grass-roots effort from the beginning. The students are the ones who voted for it … and in that same spirit, I think the efforts should be along the lines of a community effort.”
That may be the goal, but already there are differences of opinion within the ranks over enforcement. There are those like Van Buren, who believe a compassionate approach is the best way to go, while others believe stiff penalties and possible expulsion should be on the table.
“I hope tickets are written because there’s no point in having (the ban) if we can’t enforce it,” said Adel Morad, the student trustee for the college who acts as a liaison between the board of trustees and Associated Students. “What’s a ticket if you don’t have to pay for it?”
Judith Penchansky, the college’s dean of discipline, said it is ultimately up to the trustees, who have left the issue of enforcement open for the time being. There is no word yet if the trustees will push for fines.
As things stand, if a student is cited for smoking, the infraction will be treated like any other violation of the students’ code of conduct. If a student is issued a citation, they may receive a letter warning them about the ban and why it is in effect. Students would also be required to write a paper detailing their side of the story, Penchansky said.
“I think what we are doing now is reasonable,” Penchansky said. “It really is educational at this point … Personally, I wouldn’t recommend fines. I think this is more about teaching the students about mutual respect.
“It’s more about health and education, not punishment.”
Educating the student body could prove to be difficult, given that the majority of students are between the ages of 18 and 21 and are more likely to brush aside warnings about the ill effects of smoking.
Mark Tucker is a good example. He knows smoking is bad for him, but the 18-year-old decided to pick it up anyway ear-lier this summer after he spent some time traveling.
“It was something to do,” Tucker, who is studying music at SMC, said about smoking. “I don’t really think we need a ban. There are no kids here. We’re all 18 and over, so I don’t really see the point.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 20, 2007. Read the original PDF.