Post Classifieds
Forums educate about tobacco ban
By Brian Alexander
On April 22, 2012
Last week, Buffalo State's Health Promotions office held a series of open forums to
educate the campus community on the details of the tobacco ban.
Discussions were conducted by Director of the National Center for Tobacco Policy,
Ty Patterson, who advised students on enforcement techniques the college is
looking into for the implementation phase next semester.
Among the strategies he talked about were an educational media campaign and
services through Weigel Health Center, such as nicotine replacement therapy, to
help smokers quit or get through their classes without cigarettes.
The forums also gave students and faculty a chance to express their views on issues
like enforcement, policy and implementation. Health promotions graduate assistant
Paula Madrigal said this was crucial to learning what issues the college needs to be
more attentive to when considering the direction of the ban moving forward.
"We're learning along with everyone else," she said. "So we want to educate people,
but we're learning how to do that as effectively as possible."
In addition to hosting discussions, Patterson said he's been advising the college on
how to best implement the ban on the administrative side as well.
"In the case of Buffalo State College, you've got a lot of factors that come into play,"
he said. "Union contracts, issues that need to be negotiated perhaps. You've got
just a lot of education that has to happen before you even get to the place of really
creating an enforcement mechanism."
At a recent college senate meeting Vice President for Student Affairs Hal Payne said
despite concerns about strict sanctions, the enforcement phase of the ban will be
focused on creating a change in campus culture rather than handing out tickets.
"What we're about here is mutual respect," he said. "This is not a program where
the college dictates compliance. Rather, the success of this program will depend on
everyone in the community agreeing to live by the social compact we have made
with each other by voting in this policy last May."
Currently, students and faculty may use tobacco as long as they are outside, at least
10 feet away from the entrance to the nearest building. Next semester, all forms of
tobacco, including cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, will be prohibited.
The college will begin rolling out its educational media campaign at the end of
the semester, but Payne said it will not be in full effect until the fall semester. He
said promotional options the college is looking into include advertisements on the
website and signs that can be moved to and from high-traffic areas on campus.
"What I recommend to institutions is that you don't really try to create an
enforcement process that's penalty oriented," Patterson said. "If you can stay away
from that, you're better off. You need to change the way people think about tobacco
use."
Buffalo State President Aaron Podelefsky agreed, urging the college senate planning
committee to take a methodical approach.
"It's taken a long time for us to reach this point with smoking, and I think an overly
hasty, poorly planned communication strategy may be worse than no strategy," he
said. "We need to give people space to create a thoughtful way of messaging so we
don't start off on the wrong foot and set ourselves back."
Brian Alexander can be reached by email at alexander.record@live.com.
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