This semester marks one year since USC ostensibly became a tobacco-free campus.
With the news that the administration is examining the impact of the policy with a survey of students, we'd like to throw in our two cents.
We feel that enforcement of the policy, while strong in the beginning, has fallen off dramatically to where there is no deterrent to keep the policy intact. In addition, the promotional campaign has all but ceased, leaving us wondering if new students are even aware of the program.
With the removal of ashtrays, cigarette butts now litter the campus in certain areas, serving as reminders of students' willingness to flout the rules.
Perhaps this survey will confirm that the program has dramatically cut smoking rates, but the anecdotal evidence that Healthy Carolina cites seems to contradict what we see around campus. With no survey data from students to point to, how can it be proven that the rule is being followed?
What began as a well-intentioned but misguided program has faded into an almost forgotten policy. Asking students their opinions may serve to remind them of the initiative, but may also stoke the same passions that drove the initial opposition to the program.
We feel that rather than focusing attention back on the difficult task of enforcing a blanket ban, the university should focus its resources on helping smokers quit. The Campus Wellness and Student Health programs will help students more than harassing them to put out their cigarettes, and could use more promotion around campus.
No one disputes the harmful effects of smoking and even secondhand smoke. However, if the focus is truly on saving lives, then we say the most effective way to move forward is to boost funding and awareness to the programs on campus that help existing smokers quit.