Transcript Clearing the Air: Assessing Students' Ideas and Attitudes

Clearing the Air:
Assessing Students'
Ideas and Attitudes
on Implementing a
Smoke-free Campus
MTSU ADP Student Organization
Liz Thomason, Matthew Foriest, Kiara Hall, Nicholas Crosby, Andrew King
Middle Tennessee State University
June 19, 2010
ADP National Meeting, Providence, Rhode Island
As part of the panel “Supporting, Engaging, Inspiring:
Students as Agents and Architects of Democracy”
Smoking by the Numbers
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Adults
18-24
Smokeless
Deaths
20.6%
21.4%
3.3%
443,000
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COPD
Cancer
Hypertension
Heart Attack
Stroke
Pulmonary Embolism
= $96,000,000,000
Smokefree Air Challenge
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Arkansas Clean Air on Campus Act (2009)
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Prohibits smoking on state-supported
institutions of higher education campuses,
with the stated goal being to “reduce
secondhand smoke exposure to nonsmokers.”
Passed in March 2009: 68-26-6 in the
Arkansas House and 34-0-1 in the Senate.
Law goes into effect August 1, 2010.
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Iowa Smokefree Air Act (2008)
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Prohibits smoking in public areas, mass transit
systems, school grounds, and other state
buildings.
Passed in the Iowa House 56-44 and 28-22 in
the Senate.
Upheld after a judicial challenge on April 1,
2010.
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The ALA suggests tobacco-free policies
rather than smoke-free policies.
The number of tobacco-free campuses is
growing nationwide:
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October 2009: 176 tobacco-free campuses
April 2010: 231 tobacco-free campuses
June 2010: 249 tobacco-free campuses
“Strong Law in Effect”
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2006 Tennessee law, which did not go into
effect until summer 2007, ended smoking in
public buildings in Tennessee.
2007 Tennessee Non-Smokers Protection Act
ended smoking in numerous restaurants, hotels,
etc., to permit Tennesseans to breathe smokefree.
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Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR)
complied with the new 2006 state
legislation and adopted its own
non-smoking-in-TBR-buildings policy.
TBR also has a policy prohibiting tobacco
being sold and distributed on its
campuses.
MTSU Smoking Policy:
Unenforced
Middle Tennessee State University was the last TBR
school to stop the sale of cigarettes on its campus.
MTSU’s policy is a reflection of current TBR policy, but the
policy is not being enforced.
MTSU has stepped in the right direction by stopping the
sale of tobacco, but now there needs to be more
enforcement of current policy.
RESTRICTED
ALLOWANCES
ALLOWANCES
ALLOWANCES
Tobacco Free
Smoke Free
Smoking in
Private
Vehicles
Smoking in
Parking Lots
( = Smokeless
Tobacco
Permitted)
Austin Peay
State University
East Tennessee
State University
Tennessee Tech
University
X
X
X
Cleveland State
Community
College
X
Pellissippi State
Community
College
X
( = Smoking in
Cars Permitted)
( = Smoking in a
Few Designated
Spots Permitted)
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We think of our campus as
having a lot of smokers, but…
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How many students actually do smoke at
MTSU? How big is our smoking
population?
Would our student body support a
smoke-free or tobacco-free campus?
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23,653 student population at MTSU
Spring 2010
$ 53% women
$ 47% men
1290 students surveyed (5.5%)
$ 54% women
$ 46% men
Do you consider yourself a smoker?
No 82%
Yes 18%
Do you smoke on campus?
No 79%
Yes 21%
CDC national estimates, 18-24 year olds:
21.4% smoke
Dip, chew, or use smokeless tobacco?
6%
CDC national estimates:
3.3% smoke
Yes
No
I don’t know
Would you support a
policy for a smokefree campus?
53%
34%
14%
Would you support a
policy for a tobaccofree campus?
47%
38%
16%
Next? Sequencing?
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Write a policy proposal
Do due diligence: campus community organizing
- Solicit support from like-minded
student organizations
- Solicit support from broader circles of
campus organizations
Work for a resolution by SGA
Meet with VP for Business and Finance and seek
administration support
Work for a resolution by Faculty Senate
Work for a resolution by Staff Senate
Democracy in Action