Issues

Hampshire College has smoker’s cough: Smoking Indoors

By: Sofia Picatoste

            Chelsea LaValley walked down the carpeted hall labeled G2, located in the dorm building known as Dakin. She held a clipboard in her hand, tapping her pen on it as she strolled further down the hall. Suddenly, she stopped tapping and halts in front of one of her resident’s dorm room. The strong stench of marijuana loomed in the air. “This guy again,” LaValley said. She rattled her fist against the door. It opened to a wide-eyed circle of college students lounging in a smoke-filled room. The students stopped passing joints, some still holding lit cigarettes, and a glass bowl filled with ash and garbage sits in the center of it all.

            Smoking indoors has long been an issue on Hampshire College’s campus. Whether it’s smoking marijuana or cigarettes, according to students and faculty there seems to be a smoking reputation at this private liberal arts college.

“There is a reputation. At least half of the parents and students that I give tour guides to have asked, ‘Is smoking a big thing here? I see a lot of cigarette butts on the ground.’ It’s really frustrating because Hampshire College is supposed to be an environmental-friendly school, but so many of us smoke,” says Daniel Krasner, a sophomore and tour guide for admissions.

         For two years, Residential Life has conducted surveys of student attitudes towards smoking and discovered that students are about evenly divided between those who want a smoke-free environment and those who don’t mind a smoking environment. Now, Residential Life Staff try to be proactive in addressing this issue, however, due to the smell of smoke in the halls, students are not necessarily following the rules established.   

            “We need students to mobilize and come together to think of approaches, we need administration to come together to re-examine policies and develop ones that will be more effective,” says Adam Ortiz, Hampshire College’s house director for the dorm building Dakin, “Faculty often have the biggest influence on students because students respect their professors. It really needs to be a wide effort.”

            LaValley has been part of Resident Life Staff, otherwise known as an intern or RA, here at Hampshire College for one year. Residents of Unit G have emailed her addressing the issue of smoke on their halls, but not always naming students specifically.

            “Smoking indoors is a big issue on campus, especially in the dorms. In these confined spaces students shouldn’t be smoking marijuana, or cigarettes. They need to be respectful to their peers, but instead are being lazy or don’t want to go outside because its cold,” said LaValley.

            Ortiz believes said Hampshire’s reputation for smoking, particularly marijuana, is more prevalent compared to other college campuses, which he has learned through his network of co-workers and friends at other college campuses. “People often ask about Hampshire’s drug culture,” said Ortiz. He believes this can be a turn off for potential students, and also makes current residents very uncomfortable.

            “Smoking indoors is not a victimless offense. It hurts people with second-hand smoke, it hurts people who have asthma, it hurts people who are uncomfortable with marijuana and cigarette smoke smell, it hurts people who fear the fire alarm going off in the middle of the night, and it hurts people who are trying to stop smoking or are in recovery from marijuana use,” Ortiz said.

            Indoor smoking is also more detrimental for your health rather than smoking outdoors. Christine Horn, a nurse practitioner for health services at Hampshire, said, “It’s an enclosed space so you are affected more by the smoke. Also, personally, I am allergic, and for others who are allergic it is really rough to smell smoke indoors because there’s no place to find solace.

            Smoking indoors is not only an issue with second-hand smoke and making residents uncomfortable, it is also a major fire hazard. There have been two very severe, significant fires in the past 20 years due to students smoking indoors. In 2008, Unit K located in Dakin was affected due to smoking indoors. A student had disposed of ashes in a garbage can on their hall that caught on fire and set off sprinklers. In order to subsequently put out large fires, sprinklers release a large amount of water.

             The two lower floors of K were flooded, and most of students’ possessions were destroyed. Laptops, phones, stereo systems, homework, documents, art, and more were demolished. According to Ortiz, the student responsible for smoking inside was sued by many students, and then expelled from campus.

            “Other than that horrific incident, the most common result is the fire alarm, which can be an inconvenience for all residents and a waste of time for the Amherst Fire Department,” said Ortiz.

            “Nobody likes getting up in the middle of the night to shuffle outside for half an hour in the freezing cold because someone was smoking a cigarette in their hallway,” said another intern of Resident Life Staff, Denis Becirovic.“Yet, this has happened I guarantee you at least 3 or 4 times this year in Dakin.”

            House directors and interns have taken action in order to prevent students from smoking indoors. But first, in order to understand why students choose to smoke indoors, Ortiz conducted the student survey on smoking via email. The smoking impact survey was sent to students in 2011 and 2012, with responses showing about half of students feel strongly uncomfortable with smoking indoors, and the other half don’t mind the smoke indoors.

            “It is about equal, which is interesting to me given that in the wider culture, smokers tend to be in the margins,” Ortiz said.
            According to Ortiz through selecting members of Resident Life, interns are becoming less hesitant when calling out their residents about the policy of smoking. This survey was designed to create awareness for those who are inconsiderate enough to smoke inside, while also addressing residents who want changes.

            Resident of Dakin Sabina Smith-Moreland, living on hall G2, said “I realize those who want to smoke inside may not want to go outside because it’s cold and all, but seriously, have respect for your peers. Go outside to smoke.”

Dakin Dorm image from: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hampshire_College_Dakin_Dorm.jpg

Adam Ortiz image from: http://adamortizmed.wordpress.com/page/5/

Students and Officials Speak Out on the Need for More Sober Transportation

By Alyx Rivard

Stranded, with only one Sober Shuttle transporting some students back to their homes from the bars in downtown Amherst, thousands of UMass students who drink in other off campus locations are left without a free and safe ride home.

There are 20, 539 undergraduates attending the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and according to a 2010 student survey involving 2,000 students 80 percent reported that they had consumed alcohol in the past 30 days. This leaves perhaps thousands of UMass students intoxicated and impaired each weekend left to find their own means of transportation.

All PVTA buses travelling to and around campus stop running after 11:00 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, which are the three biggest drinking nights for UMass students. Students complain that one Sober Shuttle, which does no more than two rounds per night and only provides transport for students from the bars in downtown Amherst, isn’t sufficient and neglects a vast amount of intoxicated students.

“I think the Shuttle is a good idea and in theory works well, however one is just not enough,” said UMass junior, Lauren Howard. “I’ve tried to ride it back to my townhouse a few times after the bars but it has always been too packed. More vans are definitely needed in order for the system to be effective,” said Howard.

Amherst has six running taxi services to serve the thousands of students in need of transportation from both Amherst College and UMass. Taxis run all night but with so many students to tend to in multiple different locations, students find the taxi services too busy, unreliable and not affordable. Now especially after new 2013 taxi regulations were imposed Jan. 1, taxis are required to run by an expensive meter payment rather than the past “$2 per head” cost for a ride regardless of the distance.

“I recently stopped using the taxi service as much because it has become too expensive! A ride from downtown back to the townhouses is well over $15 compared to last semester when it would cost only $10 for my five girlfriends and me with the old $2 per person fare,” said Howard.

The lack of transportation and free, safe rides could influence and persuade students to drink and drive or ride with someone who has been drinking. This could potentially put the entire community at risk.

“I’m a transfer from Bridgewater State and at my old school we had multiple sober buses that were free and ran all night on the weekends. You just called them and they would come pick you up from bars or off campus parties and bring you back home,” said UMass student, Staci Hurst.

“Free and sober rides are actually the only thing I miss about Bridgewater. I liked to go out with my friends knowing I’d have a guaranteed safe ride back,” said Hurst.

The start of the Spring 2013 semester welcomed the UMass Sober Shuttle Program, which marks the first attempt by the University of providing students with free, sober transportation. The Sober Shuttle begins its route at 1:20 a.m. and ends at 2 a.m. for students in the downtown area on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights and brings them to the Southwest Residential Area, North Apartments, Hobart, Puffton and Brandywine.

“The need for a program of this nature has never been greater at the University. There has been seven proposals in 20 years for a system like this one, but I decided to really push for it this year and it ended up passing with 79 percent in favor,” said Akshay Kapoor, Student Government Association (SGA) president.   

In a recent press release issued in 2012 Kapoor spoke about his overall goals for the program and future plans.

“It is my hope that this program will curb drinking and driving in the Amherst community and potentially save many lives…we plan to expand this program in the next two years to encompass a greater area densely populated by students,” said Kapoor.

            When asked in a personal interview if the school has run into any problems or complications with the program so far, Kapoor was very positive and enthusiastic in his response.

            “I would say the hardest part of ensuring the Shuttle’s success would probably be raising awareness and endorsements for the system. Other than that the town loves it, the student’s benefit from it and it’s cool to see the passengers interact and get to know the UMass police officer on board,” said Kapoor.

Through this process of extending the program, more than just UMass students could benefit. Increased options of transportation would lessen the amount of students walking the streets late at night, disrupting families living in residences located in close proximity to campus. As Kapoor explains, it should “ease some of the tensions that exist between the University and its students with the Town of Amherst.”

“Receiving complaints from families living in the neighborhoods surrounding campus has been an ongoing problem for the University. The neighborhoods are direct pathways for students walking from parties back to their dorms, so it can get very noisy around those areas late at night,” said Officer Malouin of the UMass Police Department.

Officer Malouin also agrees with Kapoor that giving student’s alternatives to walking home could reduce the issue of noise complaints within the community, in turn, making his job easier as well. Malouin believes that the issue of drinking and driving on and around campus could help be reduced through ensuring more students were given more options and opportunities to catch a safe ride home.

“In 2012, we recorded somewhere between 75 to 100 DUI’s on campus, which is unfortunately quite high and increases during the winter time when students refuse to walk home in the cold after a party and try to drive instead,” said Malouin.

Some students admit to having to walk miles or knowingly get in the car with someone who has been drinking just so they aren’t stranded for the night. UMass sophomore Dan Foesel says he has witnessed this on multiple occasions this past year.

“I’ve witnessed girls walking miles in the middle of winter at 2 a.m. in dresses, heels and no coat, just so they could get home because all the taxis were busy. It’s ridiculous and very dangerous,” said Foesel.

The Student Government Association’s decision of creating the Sober Shuttle is seen by the community as a good start in a hopefully continuing effort of creating a safer culture for students. The Shuttle, which according to Kapoor only costs about 85 cents per student each semester to operate, is a small price to pay when compared to the lives it has the potential to save.

“I would be willing to pay way more than a dollar extra each semester if it meant myself, peers and especially girls were guaranteed to make it back safely after a night of drinking,” said Foesel.

Although Kapoor says its clear to the SGA, students and law enforcement that there is progress to be made on providing more free, sober transportation, the right people are aware and vow to get the job done.

“The Shuttle hasn’t seemed to make a difference yet being that it only makes two stops a night to designated areas, but I hope to see it making a greater impact over the next few years because the system definitely has the potential to do so,” said Officer Malouin.

“This spring semester has only served as the pilot or experimentation phase of the Shuttle Program, which turned out well and it can only get better from here!” said Kapoor.

Issue Story: The UMass Smoking Ban

By: Jason Roche and

Shannon Sullivan

Puffs of smoke drift into the air above a group of students taking a break between classes outside of Bartlett Hall.  It is a familiar scene on campus, but will soon become a violation of university policy.  On July 1, 2013 a campus-wide ban on all tobacco products will become effective.

The ban was put in place by the University of Massachusetts Faculty Senate on April 7, 2011 by a vote of 14-7.  The April 7 meeting drew a large crowd of student protesters, both smokers and non-smokers, who expressed their disagreement with the policy.  Despite the fact that no students came forward in agreement with the policy, it was enacted by the administration.  People interviewed seem to support the goal of the smoking ban to create a healthier environment, but believe that it will be difficult to enforce and too far reaching of a restriction.

           The tobacco ban includes smokeless forms of tobacco and extends to people driving through campus in their vehicles.  

The ban’s inclusion of tobacco use that does not endanger the health of others raises suspicions among some students interviewed that the university is seeking to control the personal health choices of students and faculty.

          Opponents of the ban have invoked that an individual has the right to decide if they would like to consume tobacco products.  Douglas Tetreault, a junior at UMass and a non-smoker said “People have the right to smoke if they want to, the university is overstepping its bounds.”  

Coincidentally enough a very similar argument has been voiced by those who support the ban. That people have the right not to be subjected to secondhand smoke.  Alyssa Nogueira, a sophomore at UMass supports the ban, saying, “When people smoke in public it affects everyone that walks by, and I want to be able to walk around campus without being affected by their bad habits.”

UMass’s civil liberties guru, Professor Sheldon Goldman, provided his insight on the issue in an interview on Tuesday.  “Here we have a clash of rights, and the question is where does one’s right end and trample upon someone else’s right,” said Goldman.  People should not be involuntarily subjected to harmful toxins, their right to health, to life, is being infringed upon.  

When asked about the fact that the ban also includes forms of tobacco only harmful to the user, Goldman pointed out that “the university has a very special relationship to maintain and promote the health, safety, and well-being of all its students.”  He highlighted examples such as required physical education classes that many colleges have in place, and he noted that Amherst College once had a requirement that all students learn how to swim.  

           When asked about his thoughts on the smoking ban, Matt Felten said “Nothing’s going to change, there’s no way they’ll be able to regulate it.”  Nate Scholnick seconded his response, “Yeah, how does the University plan on enforcing it?”

The campus-wide tobacco ban has been shrugged off by some smokers because the university has not explicitly stated what will be done to enforce the policy.  The only hint at punitive measures for violations of the smoking ban was given by Professor Wilmore Webley, the primary sponsor of the ban, in a March 3 interview with the Daily Collegian.  He said “If either students, staff, or employees become habitual violators of the policy, they’ll go through the same disciplinary actions as violating any other university policy.”

On Monday, Officer James Sullivan joined a Residential Life meeting and had a question and answer section with Residential Assistants.  When asked if UMass officers would be enforcing the ban he answered with the question “Is it a law?” and answered himself, “no.”  He said that officers will continue to enforce the current town regulation of not smoking within 20 feet of buildings but would have no jurisdiction to stop people from smoking outside of that zone.

Students are certainly not the only ones affected by the policy.  It applies to every single person on campus.  “I feel really bad for the dc workers who smoke to get themselves through the day,” said Felten.  

The university recognizes that for many on campus, this ban will seriously affect their life and force them to confront their nicotine addiction.  The Center for Health Promotion and Workplace Learning and Development are offering four sessions of “Helping Employees Cope with a Tobacco Free UMass.”  The university is recognizing that not just students will be affected by the school-wide ban.  There will be a Faculty and Staff Assistance Program (FSAP) leading a support group for employees struggling with the new tobacco-free environment.

Dr. Daniel S. Gerber, Teaching Professor of Public Health 160: My Body, My Health said, “I think it is very worthwhile for the campus to create a smoke free campus, it will make everyone healthier.” Gerber added “I think it will be very difficult for people that work on campus who are addicted to smoking to stop, it will be toughest for them, and I feel for them.”  

          UHS is pushing for a tobacco free campus and describes the ban on their website as “taking the important step to protect the health of all students, employees, and visitors.”  UHS will be providing nicotine replacement therapy vouchers to help students, faculty, and staff who are having thoughts of quitting tobacco use or are just trying to get through the day without it.  The vouchers are supposed to offset the cost of the over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapy products.  They will be good for $10 off the price of a two-week supply of the NRT products at the UHS pharmacy.  The voucher discount can be applied as many as six times, with one voucher per person.  One can get vouchers from meeting with a tobacco treatment specialist, attending a session of the “Helping Employees Cope” program, or participating in an employee support group meeting.

The university has sponsored a major advertising campaign to raise awareness of the smoking ban.  They have ads on the sides of PVTA buses, on flyers at dining commons, and flags around campus.  The campus seems fully committed to carrying out the ban, but students interviewed are not committed to following it.