 "Photo: Michael Ng")
Students who want a cigarette break will soon have to leave campus to get their fix.
That is, if STAT gets their way.
Students Taskforce Against Tobacco, or STAT, took Earth Day as an opportunity to inform CSUSB students about the threat that cigarettes pose to both our health and environment and to gather signatures for their petition that would call for a campus-wide ban on all tobacco products.
If the proposed resolution is approved, CSUSB will be the first school in the CSU system to adopt such a policy.
"Over 80 percent of students say they want a smoke-free CSUSB," Wellness Coordinator and STAT adviser Carlos Carrio said.
"The biggest resisters to the resolution are members of faculty who smoke. They want to keep the status quo and have the freedom to step outside for a cigarette," Carrio continued. "But our duty is to the students. If we turn a blind eye to this issue, we are in essence making it available to students and contributing to the start of an addiction process."
ASI President Jeremy Vasquez said he was open to the concerns STAT brought to him.
"STAT approached me about trying to get CSUSB to become the first smoke-free campus in the CSU system," Vasquez said. "How dare I say no to them?"
Vasquez said he was motivated to help STAT's cause because he has witnessed the effects smoking has had on his father and some of his friends.
"Smoking on campus isn't a good look for students or for the school," said Vasquez. "We as students have an awesome responsibility in that we represent each other. I feel this proposed anti-smoking policy will only benefit the campus and help create a future of better impact."
Vasquez said he plans on taking the issue to the administration council and that a proposal is planned to highlight the importance of this resolution.
STAT set up tables around campus last Wednesday, Earth Day, in hopes of convincing students of the varied dangers of cigarettes.
"Cigarette butts are a major litter item and a major fire danger, especially for our location and in this dry weather," said Carrio. "It takes 25 years for cigarette butts to disintegrate because of synthetic material used in their processing. They eventually make their way into our streams, rivers, lakes and oceans."
At each table, the task force displayed bags full of discarded cigarette butts gathered over a span of five minutes from the immediate area, a poignant representation of their claims.
Aside from ridding tobacco from CSUSB, one of STAT's biggest goals is to take down the tobacco industry.
"'Big Tobacco' targets youth between the ages of 18 and 24 by promoting their lethal product at clubs, sporting events, rodeos and bars," said Carrio. "They spend $25,000 a minute in advertising to target [these people] to get them addicted. Older customers are dying off."
Monica Talla, Chair of STAT said, "We're not trying to be health police, we're striving for health and wellness on campus, and we're combating the greedy tobacco industry."
It goes without saying that this proposal has been met with a lot of criticism. After learning about STAT's objectives, one CSUSB student who chose to remain anonymous, exclaimed, "Is this legal?"
To which one STAT member retorted, "Is it legal to poison me?" Later, the same student said he believed the resolution may infringe on smoker's rights and questioned whether or not STAT had the ability to make these changes. In response, STAT member Michelle Nicht said, "Students have the power. We pay the bills here."
Carrio is firm about clearing up the common misconception that people have the right to smoke.
"There is no constitutional right to smoke. Smokers are not a 'protected class,'" Carrio said. "Smoking is a choice and an addiction, it has nothing to do with someone's rights."
"You can only smoke in the absence of a policy and/or law," Carrio added. "[And] if smoker's claim that their rights are being taking away then what about non-smoker's rights to breath clean air?"
CSUSB student Sharay Young said, "There needs to be an effort to help students stop smoking, but in the meantime, those of us who don't smoke shouldn't have to put up with the second hand smoke and discarded butts."
Carrio says that just because STAT is looking to ban tobacco on campus, it doesn't mean they turns their backs on smokers.
"We love smokers, we just disagree with their choices," said Carrio. "The Wellness Center even offers free smoking cessation classes to all students, staff and faculty."
STAT is holding a meeting Tues., April 28 from 12-1 p.m. in the Student Health Center conference room. The meeting's agenda will entail a debriefing of the Earth Day activities, the results of the smoking student survey, recruitment of more STAT members and a strategical session for STAT's next move towards a tobacco-free university.
Carrio says STAT plans to organize a rally of more than 300 student supporters and then to take this issue up with President Karnig, who was unavailable for comment.
"If we get President Karnig's signature, that'll be the end of it," Carrio said.
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