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Greensboro. NC
Smoking policy incomplete
Emily Place
Staff Writer
With an abundance of smokers
here at Guilford, including
14.7% of incoming students, it would
make sense for us smokers to have
many places to congregate, indoors
and out. After a student survey given
last spring, the campus smoking policy
changed to exclude all indoor smoking
(aside from Bryan hall and the apart
ments) as well as smoking on the inte
rior of campus. The survey showed a
majority of students, staff, and faculty
members favored a complete ban on
smoking in Founders hall, which had a
smoking area in The Underground last
year. The survey did not mention any
outdoor areas becoming off-limits.
Outlined in the survey, the new smok
ing policy should have provided us with
a designated smoking area somewhere
on campus when school started in Fall
2004. It was not stated whether this
new spot will be indoors or out, but the
point is, we haven't seen it yet.
Being a first-year transfer student, I
was surprised to learn that this policy
was changed because of the results of
a simple survey. Isn't Guilford about
letter to the Editor
As a non-smoker concerned
about student rights, I'd like to
pose some questions to the makers of
the new smoking policy. I want to know
what possible gain there is in pissing off
a large portion of the student body.
Shouldn't the focus be on more
important things? I am all about smoke
free dorms, but trying to regulate the
outdoors seems a bit... well, arrogant.
Will the looks of campus be that much
improved by angry huddles of smokers
at every back door?
I find it interesting that the entrances
that face the "interior of campus" are
the only ones with porches. Things are
bad enough without the Underground
serving as an indoor smoking area, but
we're not even giving them a roof to
keep off the rain. It may seem fine in
consensus: deciding as a whole and
everyone having a say? The survey did
not have any input from this year's
incoming students, nor from all of the
students attending last spring. How
could it have gone through without the
traditional consensus process that
defines decision-making at Guilford?
When a decision affecting such a huge
number of people is being made, extra
precautions need to be taken. With
such a subject as smoking, I believe
that smaller groups should decide on
an individual basis. If the smokers of
Mary Hobbs hall want to smoke on their
great big porch, let them get together
and decide for themselves what works
for everyone. If I want to smoke on the
Binford stoop, the people in direct con
tact with that stoop are the ones with
whom I want to collaborate and come
up with an agreement.
The new smoking policy and the way
that Campus Life went about changing
it are unlike most things Guilford. At the
very least, a new designated lounge
area for smoking should be selected to
complete the process of the policy
change. We smokers are now in a posi
tion of responsibility, where we must do
something or nothing will get done.
late August, but what happens in
November when the first ice storm hits?
I won't say smoking isn't bad for you,
but I'd rather not see my peers filling
their lungs with poison AND standing
out in the freezing cold. Do you expect
people to quit smoking because the
administration is doing everything pos
sible to make it inconvenient? What do
you think will happen when there are
barely any ashtrays on campus? Are
students really going to walk around to
the backdoor of King to put out their
butts before class?
It's time we reach a better compro
mise here. What was wrong with the
arrangement last year? And what the
hell is this survey that no one I've talked
to remembers taking? 3C
Mary Van Dyke
Senior
FOR ITM
Sarah Hicks
Staff Writer
The Guilfordian asked students if they
feel that campus is overcrowded. Their
responses:
Emanuel Sargeant: If I've got a room,
frankly I dont care."
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Judy Scoville: "Well, although I've only
been on campus for one week, my first
impression is that, overall, the campus
is still aesthetically pleasing, but class
es fill up very quickly."
Kartlyn Moore: "I cant really answer that
because I'm a first-year. I have nothing to
compare it to."
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Will Johnson: "At peak hours, the cafe
teria is a bit full, but overall I don't feel like
there is a big problem."
Sept. 3, 2004
www.guilfordian.com
PHOTOS CREDIT SARAH HICKS/GUILFORDIAN
Andrew McClannon: "My high school was
bigger so it really doesnt matter to me."
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Amanda Szabo: "I think it sucks because I
came to this campus for something different.
I'm sure I'll get used to it, but its been a dis
appointment. The people here seem more
upper-class white than the hippie Guilford
people I remember when I visited. And I cant
get into the classes that I want, but I can get
over that."
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Michael Zielinski: "I think it's a sign of bad
judgment by the administration and it just
seems like they're more interested in getting
more money than making sure the school
works well."
Amy Phillips: "It does not bother me
because I've never experienced Guilford any
other way."