Maybe you’ve heard it through the grapevine, seen it in a post on EMU’s Facebook page or read it in the Echo. One thing’s for sure: You probably know about the smoking ban taking effect next summer on EMU’s campus.
As a non-smoker myself, I am hit with this news in a completely different light that heavily influences my own opinion: It hardly affects my everyday life or me. While I have friends and siblings who live on smoke-free campuses, I never paid much thought to our campus being more lenient. There was nothing outstanding or offensive to me about the small crowds that gather in places like between Porter and Pray-Harrold. If anything, it brings people together who might have otherwise walked right past each other in the 15-minute rush between classes.
All the same, I do support the decision made. As a state-owned span of property and first and foremost a school, a university shouldn't be harshly criticized for wanting a cleaner and healthier environment for its faculty and students.
Some may argue that while the smoke isn’t beneficial to the air, its impact on the overall cleanliness of air as a whole isn’t noticeable. However, on my way to class earlier this week, I made a note and counted every cigarette butt I saw while walking on campus grounds. I passed Alexander and walked up the hill between Quirk and Pray-Harrold, and had almost reached two hundred by the time I reached the stretch leading up to Porter. With one pair of eyes, I would have had to walk at a snail’s pace to reach a definite number, since there were so many shoved between the cracks and underneath the benches.
The colors white and orange, a stark contrast against grey pavement or the yet-green December grass, our eyes brush over the littered paths we walk multiple times a week. However, I am sure I am not the only one who notices the cleanliness—or lack thereof—of a place when you are passing through it for the first time. Having this policy change will have, unarguably, an effect on the perceived character and quality of our campus by increased cleanliness.
From what I have personally heard, it seems that the university plans to make the change gradual for the benefit of those who will be most affected. Being a fairly lenient and open-minded campus, I think the university will handle the situation well. If the decision were up in the air, I wouldn't be out protesting for a definite ban, because I do respect and support the university’s choice in becoming smoke-free for the overall benefit of Eastern Michigan’s campus.
