You see them behind Rollins in
the loading dock and in the
alcove outside the Hub. They’re
just over the wall of Tyler and in
between the tables outside the
library. They are the smokers,
who stroll across campus with lit
cigarettes, blowing smoke
through doorways and tossing
butts on the ground.
Despite the rules and signs and
threats of fines, smoking continues
campus-wide.
Bucks’ non-smokers are starting
to wonder what the point of
enacting designated smoking
areas was if the regulations are
going to be treated like “just
another stupid rule,” as at least
one smoker has called them.
What’s the deal?
On Oct. 1, 2008, Bucks enacted
a rule designating smoking
areas, with a goal of eliminating
smoking everywhere but the
parking lots. At the tail-end of
the fall 2008 semester, Bucks laid
down the law, citing fines for
those caught smoking.
What’s at risk if you’re caught
smoking where you shouldn’t
be?
For the first offense, a smoker
is fined $25 with a formal reprimand.
Get caught again and the
fine is doubled to $50 and the
student is placed on probation
for a “stipulated time period.” A
third offense is $100 and some
college-related community service
that will be determined by
Matt Cipriano, director of student life. Anything after a third
offense is gruesome-a $250 fine
on top of some more community
service.
But it appears that these fines
are just out to scare smokers into
taking the extra steps to the nearest
parking lot. According to
Cipriano, “four or five” people
have been cited for smoking by
Safety and Security, with 17 students
being fined in total.
For non-smokers, this seems
like a pretty puny number of
fines and citations on a campus
where – according to a Bucks
study -37 percent of students
smoke.
The Board of Trustees says the
college needs to follow through
with the regulations they laid
out, developed from
Pennsylvania state mandates
and an earlier SGA proposal.
Student Life says that Safety
and Security needs to do more
enforcement. But Safety and
Security says they are not the
“smoke police,” and enforcement
is up to the entire Bucks
community.
Bucks smokers don’t care
about any of it.
“It’s a stupid rule and I’m not
going to follow it,” said Chalfont
resident Melissa Cirba.
She feels that Safety
and Security has trouble
talking with smokers
because it requires
them to deal with students
face-to-face,
rather than leaving a
ticket under a student’s
windshield.
Is she right?
When walking about
campus, students and
faculty alike say they
do not usually see
security officers talking
to smokers. And
the few that do patrol
campus from time to
time, like
Cipriano,
don’t see
patrolling
officers at all while
touring the quad.
“They need to
help with enforcing
[Bucks] policies,
especially brandnew
policies that
need that extra level
of attention in order
to change the current
mentality of the
population,” said
Cipriano.
Safety and
Security Director
Chris Lloyd says
that smoking
enforcement is
“everybody’s issue”
and it’s just not up
to the officers to
snuff out smoking.
An internal memo
released within
Safety and Security
states it is “easier
for non-uniformed
community members
to gain compliance
from a violating smoker
than it is for a uniformed officer
as this brings a whole new level
of ‘controversy.'”
Lloyd also said his officers
have too much on their hands to
be the only ones responsible for
enforcing the smoking ban. He
added, however, that it is an officer’s
duty to support the ban and
if the buck is being passed,
“shame on them.”
So the following seems to be
clear: Bucks doesn’t want smoking
on campus. Bucks is having
trouble enforcing a non-smoking
campus. Bucks smokers don’t
want to be restricted to designated
smoking areas. And nonsmokers
are frustrated by the
false-hope of a non-smoking
campus.
How can this issue be solved?
The Board of Trustees thought
fines were the answer.
In the internal memo, Lloyd
writes out exactly what officers
are to do if they encounter a violating
smoker. This procedure
involves several “polite”
requests for a smoker to extinguish
their cigarette and only
upon blatant disregard for
authority is a fine to be issued.
“I don’t want to flood students
with fines,” said Lloyd in an
interview.
Cipriano, Lloyd and other
Bucks administration say they
hope smokers would be mature
enough to follow the rules and
that it is their responsibility to
abide by the regulations. It’s
clear that this isn’t happening.
Those interviewed agree that
everyone -aside from students-
should be pitching in to
help snuff out smoking.
But so far, that doesn’t seem to
be happening.
So until Bucks gets on the same
page about how to enforce the
guidelines they set out, smoking
will continue everywhere, and
non-smokers who were hopeful
they weren’t going to have to
inhale cigarette fumes will have
to keep hoping.