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Photo Illustration by Ron j. Rambo Jr./The Advocate
Not so smoke-free at MHCC
Students continue to smoke in less visible areas of the college regardless of tobacco-free policy
The Advocate
Not all students at MHCC are warming up to the idea of a tobacco ban on campus.
“There are a lot of smokers who go to MHCC,” said one smoker who asked that his name not be used. “It’s unfair to make us sneak back to the forest to have a smoke between classes.”
While this may be the general response from smokers, other students expressed approval of the policy. Brad Boulton said, “I love it. Although part of me thinks that there should be somewhere on campus where smokers can go, I still think it’s a major improvement.”
Kaylee Nelson said, “We don’t have to walk through clouds of smoke anymore. It’s great.”
The new school-wide tobacco ban was implemented Jan. 2, and while there has been concern about how students would respond to the new policy, June Jacobs, assistant to the president for strategic initiatives and board relations, said, “It’s going pretty smoothly.”
The majority of smokers have been compliant with the new policy, according to public safety officer Cherlyn Nederhiser. “We have not written one ticket,” she said.
Nederhiser said that while many verbal warnings have been issued, they mostly were to people who simply walk on campus while smoking and forget that the ban has been implemented.
“They’re generally very apologetic,” said Nederhiser. She said most people who are issued a verbal warning tend to immediately put out their cigarettes.
However, many students have been seen smoking freely around campus. Large congregations have been seen smoking at the TriMet bus stop on the west side of campus.
A walk by the pond Tuesday revealed a large number of freshly discarded cigarette butts.
“I don’t care if I get caught,” said one anonymous smoker. “I pay to go to school here. I should be able to smoke here.”
Another smoker expressed concerns about the policy prohibiting smokers smoking in their own cars.
“That’s not right. That’s personal property. You should be able to smoke in your own car. If smokers want their car to smell like smoke, that’s their business,” said the anonymous smoker.
There is also question about the space in the forest to the east that is owned by Metro, the regional government, and therefore not MHCC property.
“We can only enforce things on the Mt. Hood campus,” said Nederhiser when asked about this area.
There is evidence of some smokers going to this area to smoke. While public safety cannot enforce things that happen in this area, Metro’s own policy on smoking has not been released at this time.
Nederhiser acknowledged that enforcing the new policy is very difficult, as there are only two public safety officers on duty at a time and catching smokers is not their only priority.
Nederhiser said she wants to encourage people to be aware of any smoking going on. If people do not feel comfortable confronting smokers, “they can contact public safety and we will be more than happy to come talk to them,” she said.
Jacobs said the faculty has been educated about enforcing the new policy, but no one is required to confront anyone about it if they are not comfortable doing so.
Also, new handouts have been made that have information about the policy as well as the web address for MHCC’s smoke-free section of their website.
Jacobs said the handouts were designed so that smokers could be addressed in a non-confrontational way.
“We as a community have to respond together. It’s not just a public safety issue,” said Nederhiser.
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