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URI To Ban Smoking In Campus
Housing Starting June 1
The Providence Sunday Journal
. Providence, RI
Sunday, December 3, 2000
by Paul Davis
Though some students say the ban is unfair, others understand the health reasons behind it and even venture to say that having to smoke outside may provide the impetus to quit.
Rachel Burdi, a University of Rhode Island freshman, lights a cigarette on a path near the Memorials Union. After a quick drag, she heads off to her apartment in Aldrich Hall, part of a cluster of brick buildings on Butterfield Road.
Burdi smokes about a half a pack a day, between classes or at night while studying. Her roommates doesn't mind; she smokes, too. In fact, "the whole suite smokes," Burdi says.
Not for long.
On June 1, administrators will ban smoking in the university's 19 residence halls and apartment buildings in Kingston.
Already, students are barred from lighting up in classrooms, administrative offices and a handful of recently renovated residences. The new rule will force students to smoke on lawns, on sidewalks and on the quadrangle.
Administratos say the ban will reduce the number of building fires, eliminate second-hand smoke in buildings and provide a healthier environment for the university's 3,600 students who share rooms, bathrooms and suites in campus.
Although not attributed to cigarette smoking, a fire last year burned down an off-campus apartment and killed a student at Salve Regina University in Newport. That fire was started from a candle.
This year, a fire in a freshman dormitory at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J., killed three students and injured dozens more.
Such fires serve as a "sobering reminder of the dangers of careless behavior that may put at risk hundreds of students at any time of the day or night," said Chip Yensan, URI's director of residential's life.
"Without question, the potential exists for fire to occur from the careless use of cigarettes."
Students and the 42-member Student Senate were told about the ban last week.
"We believe that this is another important step in reshaping our community, making it a safer and better place for our new culture for learning," said URI President Robert L. Carothers, who five years ago banned alcohol at campus events.
After all, Carothers said, URI houses the Cancer Prevention Research Center. Its programs have helped people in Great Britain, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and Canada quit smoking.
Students - who spend $6,645 a year to live in the university's brick dormitories - don't necessarily agree with the ban.
"It's stupid," said Burdi, who started smoking three years ago. If administrators insist on the ban, "I'll live off campus," she said.
"I do feel it's kind of another step in taking away students' rights," added junior Blythe Londy, chairperson of URI's Student Affairs Committee. The residence halls "are their homes," said Londy, who smokes but lives off campus.
Still, many students recognize that smoking is a health issue, she said. "They've said that since it's a health issue, it should be out of the dorms."
The new rule won't affect freshman Jasmine Moorehead. "I go outside to smoke, just because it bothers people," she said. "It's not that hard to do."
The ban comes at a time when more students than ever are lighting up.
Despite national and local anti-smoking campaigns, a third of the nation's college students are using tobacco products, according to the most recent research from the Harvard School of Public Health.
Researchers there surveyed more than 14,000 students at 119 colleges nationwide, asking them to report on their use of tobacco.
A third of the students said they had smoked cigarettes, chewed tobacco or smoked cigars in the last four weeks, indicating they were current users. Nearly half of the students admitted they had used tobacco in the past year.
At URI, about 10 percent of the incoming students smoke, said Roger Jadosz, health educator at URI's Student Health Services.
That number jumps to about 30 percent after four years of campus life - including parties, drinking and peer pressure, Jadosz said.
"There's a lot of social smoking," he said. Many students ignore the health risks, including cancer, "because at age 18 to 24, you're immortal," he said.
Jadosz relies on a number of things to help students quit smoking, including a booklet, aides such as patches, gum and nasal sprays, and - his favorite - delaying tactics.
"If you can delay that first butt in the morning, if you can wait until have a cup of coffee first," then that's one less cigarette you smoke a day, he said.
"It's extremely difficult to quit. I've had some students say, Roger, I quit for two weeks but then I started again. That's okay, I tell them. It takes practice. It doesn't matter if you quit 2, 5, or 10 times. If you keep trying, you're going to do it."
The university isn't alone in its bid to filter out cigarette smoke.
Three years ago, Salve Regina University banned smoking in its dorms. And this fall, the University of Delaware banned smoking in campus residences.
"I see no problem with it," said sophomore Jamie Bell, who smokes but is trying to quit. "If it entails going outside, it could curtail smoking."
And that, he said, is a good thing.
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