On Sept. 1, Aaron Fetrow, vice president for student affairs and dean of students, addressed some of the issues and concerns that the new smoking policy has sparked in the weekly Community Senate Meeting.”The policy is fairly simple,” said Fetrow. “No smoking is allowed at the entrance to any building and no smoking in the quad.”
This includes not smoking on any of the pathways that both students and faculty frequent when walking to and from class.

The meeting addressed serious concerns with both the logistics of the policy and what it is perceived to represent; one being the effect on community relations.

Patchouli Oerther, vice president of student senate, said that she understands eliminating cigarette smoke and the inevitable litter that incurs in these central parts of campus.

She stated her advice to students would be to give smokers spaces large enough where they can still sit down and feel comfortable.

“Rifts in the community are not necessary,” said Oerther. “Creating a circle is always a good thing. It makes it more possible for people to socialize.”

Many students believe that bringing back gazebos comparable in size to the ones that were removed would solve a lot of problems.

“I think it is really silly that the general smoking areas are in obscure, inaccessible locations,” said senior Marcus Edghill.
Many prospective changes have been brought up, such as an additional smoking area near Founders and a smoking shelter near the lake. Discussion of revising the policy in regards to the North apartments is also underway.

While there is still room for change and discussion in the policy, the prospect of moving towards a completely smoke-free campus is “still on the table,” according to Fetrow.

Community Senate held a follow-up meeting with Fetrow in attendance Sept. 8 to discuss practical solutions to student concerns about the smoking policy.

Senate discussed problems and possible solutions with the proposed smoking areas.

Sarah-Janna Nodell, a resident advisor, put forth the idea of North apartment and Hodgins residents signing porch agreements similar to the roommate agreement forms that are signed upon move-in. These would allow individual apartments to determine their own smoking policy.

Senate plans to continue the discussion at next weeks community senate meeting.

Nodell wishes more students would come to the meetings with their concerns. Nodell also states that the policy is, “still very much a work in progress.”

“All we want is a little bitty spot where we can smoke a cigarette on our break,” said Lois Conrad, a member of the Guilford dining staff for 25 years.

The policy was set in motion by the board of trustees and senior staff members in response to complaints from students, visitors, and faculty.

Last year a campus-wide Healthy Minds survey was conducted. Of the 700 respondents, 60 percent requested a stricter tobacco policy.

Guilford’s restricted smoking policy is also in line with local trends. In May 2009, N.C. passed a smoking ban which makes smoking in restaurants and bars illegal.

Local colleges such as Elon University, Bennett College, and UNCG have also tightened up on smoking regulations.
The smoking policy will be implemented through verbal and written warnings, which will culminate in a Level 1 Sanction if students do not comply. A likely consequence would be picking up cigarette butts or other forms of community service.

It is still unclear how the college will negotiate the divide the revised smoking policy has caused among some students.
“It’s sort of like this,” said Edghill. “I’m paying $40 thousand a year to go here. How dare you tell me what to do?”

“It’s a much nicer place to be now,” said Chaimaa Azizbi, a sophomore and Business major. “I think we look better, too.