Spartan Daily - Serving San Jose State University since 1934

Issue date: 12/4/07 Section: News

Media Credit: ANNE RIGOR, SPECIAL TO THE DAILY

You haven't seen Joe Camel on a highway billboard in a long time.

Last time you ate at a restaurant, the greeter didn't ask, "Smoking, or non?"

And you can't buy a pack of cigarettes at Village Market.

It's because policies regulating the sale, advertisement and smoking of cigarettes in California have been evolving in stages over the past two decades. Mirroring the state's example, the developing conscience of SJSU reflects a similar desire for a less and less smoky environment.

It started in 1993 when the state of California became the first to ban smoking inside state-owned buildings and within 5 feet of their main entrances and exits. SJSU's Academic Senate adopted a similar mindset and restricted on-campus smoking to the outdoors. It also banned the sale of tobacco products on SJSU property.

For the next decade, the state worked to contain cigarette-smoke exposure. Legislation eventually prohibited smoking in workplaces and restaurants, then bars, taverns, gaming clubs and outdoor playgrounds. Come 2003, the Academic Senate decided to take a second look at its policy.

It commissioned surveys of the students, faculty and staff members at the time and found that more than 60 percent of respondents favored heavier smoking restrictions.

Enter a new policy - the one that's still in effect today. It emulated the state law, except that SJSU extended the area of the non-smoking zone to 25 feet and added windows as a measuring point for the boundary.

The policy surpassed the state law's restrictions at the time - and still does, even after the state pushed its buffer farther out, to 20 feet, in 2004.

Some universities, such as Cal State Northridge and San Francisco State, went further than SJSU and imposed 30-foot non-smoking boundaries.

San Francisco State took another route in August 2004 when the university's president, Robert Corrigan, declared the campus "smoke free." The university's new policy restricted smoking to only designated areas.

"Given our compact campus, (the old policy) actually left few legal opportunities for smokers," Corrigan said in a news release. "Mutual respect, a cornerstone of our campus values, leads us to seek a solution that addresses the concerns of all involved."

But he did leave the window open for further restrictions.

"I would hope that over time smoking on campus will diminish naturally and we will be able to reduce, and perhaps eliminate, the designated smoking spots," his statement read.

Continued...

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