It's a smokin' hot topic
Kathryn Latimer, Jessica Sorensen and Cody Cecil | Contributing Writers
Issue date: 6/4/10 Section: Opinion
Kathryn Latimer|Contributing writer
I enjoy breathing, as do many people, so it is no surprise the controversy about the smoking policy is causing some intense discussions.
Health issues are one reason why the Board of Trustees is deciding whether or not to ban smoking permanently from EvCC, a change which would go into effect sometime in 2012.
Smoking is a very disgusting habit that not only affects the smoker, but the people around them.
Another reason why smoking needs to be banned from the campus all together is that the tobacco policy is rarely enforced. There have been several occasions where I have been stuck walking behind someone who is smoking.
Having had some breathing problems in the past, it was hard for me not to cough and start wheezing. I can only imagine what it would have been like if I had asthma.
The people who are mainly affected by this decision are the smokers themselves. They are more than likely upset by the fact that they might not be able to smoke on campus.
However, if the Board decides to keep the designated smoking areas in order to please the smokers, they are putting non-smokers at risk.
Many studies have been done to show how bad smoking really is, not just for the smokers, but for the people they smoke around.
The Division of Periodontology at the University of Minnesota provides many facts about secondhand smoke and the harm it does to the innocent bystanders.
Between 70 and 90 percent of non-smokers in America are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke, also known as environmental tobacco smoke.
Secondhand smoke is harmful to those who come in contact with it. Only about 15 percent of the cigarette smoke is actually inhaled by the smoker, while the other 85 percent lingers in the air for everybody else to breathe in. Also, If a person is in the same room with someone who is smoking for more than two hours, then the non-smoker inhales the equivalent of four cigarettes. Further, ventilation systems and designated smoking areas do not protect people from secondhand smoke.
We should be able to have the right to be protected when we attend school and not have to worry about inhaling smoke every day.
What it all comes down to is whether or not the Board is willing to put a person's health over another person's addiction.
Jessica Sorensen|Contributing writer
The large group accumulated in and around the section between Parks and Jackson never seems to wither. It seems that more and more students have been finding themselves inside the yellow border lines of the smoking section, regardless of if they are smokers or not.
I wander to this area often, as I've been smoking for three years myself, and I find it sad to see how many regulars have enticed others to participate in this cancer, as if there are no adverse affects.
They bicker and complain of the impending smoking ban, but I don't understand why they press their right to death by cigarette.
According to the American Cancer Society, smoking is most common in college-age students 18-24, and a study done by The Institute of Medicine of The National Academies showed that 19 percent of college students smoke.
The American Non-Smokers Rights Foundation says there are at least 349 campuses that have banned smoking in the United States, and this trend of a smoke-free nation is growing rapidly.
~Secondhand smoke is not only annoying it's deadly.
~It contains more than 4,000 chemical compounds, and at least 60 of them are known to cause cancer.
~Each year, heart disease claims an estimated 46,000 of non-smokers who live with smokers.
~Approximately 225,000 children less than 18 months are hospitalized annually due to pneumonia or bronchitis.
~Also, pregnant women who are exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely to have underweight babies.
And these are just a few of the risks.When we all know of the dangers surrounding us, why are we so upset to dispose of them?
I smoke cigarettes regularly and can't think of a reason why I should impose my decisions on others by forcing them to walk to their classes through a cloud of smoke. I hope the smokers of EvCC can relate and realize the consequences of their actions.
Cody Cecil|Contributing writer
You might go broke if you're a bottled-water-drinking, candy-eating nicotine addict.
Starting June 1, more of your your favorite vices are going to start affecting your income even more than they already were with the new tax approved by the Legislature and Gov. Greoire.
Gregoire's plan contains $493 million in tax increases, including a 1 cent per ounce tax on bottled water, a 2 cents per 12 ounce can increase on carbonated beverages, an increase of one George Washington on the already outrageous price of cigarettes, and a measure to raise $28 million by charging sales tax on candy and gum.
These increases are part of Gregoire's plan to raise more than $600 million to avoid large cuts to educational and social services. The plan also includes an increase on the tax rate of oil products and other pollutants.
Is it good idea to try and avoid massive cuts to important education and social services? Yes.
Could there be other ways of trying to raise money than price gouging consumers for their favorite products? Double yes.
I don't eat candy, and drinking tap water is the same for me as bottled water, but lots of people do and although those things may not be as bad for you as chain smoking a pack of cigarettes, lots of people are still addicted to them.
Although I don't smoke as much as I used to, I still love my Camel Lights, which already cost a ridiculous $8.78 in April. Now a pack of smokes is just about a quarter shy of $10!
Down in Camp Pendleton, Calif., I paid $3.15 for a pack of cigarettes less than four years ago, nearly one third of what I am spending after Memorial Day.
Now some people might say, "That's your fault; quit smoking," and I'm OK with that, but I guarantee whoever says that partakes in at least one of the items that is increasing in price, whether it be drinking a soda at a barbeque or chewing a piece of gum because your breath didn't smell kissable after you ate that garlic pasta. In the long run its all going to put a dent in your income.
I can guarantee I will quit buying cigarettes (or at least try really, really hard to) because I can't afford $10 a day. So maybe our governor's plan is actually a conspiracy to turn Washington into the healthiest state in the country by trying to force the populace to quit or at least cut down on these so-called unhealthy vices (except for the zero calorie bottle of H20 of course).
Before I started writing this I was against this new increase in statewide taxes, but I think I changed my own mind: Now I believe that a healthy state is a happy state. Besides, who wouldn't want to beat California and the governator in a physical fitness test?
I enjoy breathing, as do many people, so it is no surprise the controversy about the smoking policy is causing some intense discussions.
Health issues are one reason why the Board of Trustees is deciding whether or not to ban smoking permanently from EvCC, a change which would go into effect sometime in 2012.
Smoking is a very disgusting habit that not only affects the smoker, but the people around them.
Another reason why smoking needs to be banned from the campus all together is that the tobacco policy is rarely enforced. There have been several occasions where I have been stuck walking behind someone who is smoking.
Having had some breathing problems in the past, it was hard for me not to cough and start wheezing. I can only imagine what it would have been like if I had asthma.
The people who are mainly affected by this decision are the smokers themselves. They are more than likely upset by the fact that they might not be able to smoke on campus.
However, if the Board decides to keep the designated smoking areas in order to please the smokers, they are putting non-smokers at risk.
Many studies have been done to show how bad smoking really is, not just for the smokers, but for the people they smoke around.
The Division of Periodontology at the University of Minnesota provides many facts about secondhand smoke and the harm it does to the innocent bystanders.
Between 70 and 90 percent of non-smokers in America are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke, also known as environmental tobacco smoke.
Secondhand smoke is harmful to those who come in contact with it. Only about 15 percent of the cigarette smoke is actually inhaled by the smoker, while the other 85 percent lingers in the air for everybody else to breathe in. Also, If a person is in the same room with someone who is smoking for more than two hours, then the non-smoker inhales the equivalent of four cigarettes. Further, ventilation systems and designated smoking areas do not protect people from secondhand smoke.
We should be able to have the right to be protected when we attend school and not have to worry about inhaling smoke every day.
What it all comes down to is whether or not the Board is willing to put a person's health over another person's addiction.
Jessica Sorensen|Contributing writer
The large group accumulated in and around the section between Parks and Jackson never seems to wither. It seems that more and more students have been finding themselves inside the yellow border lines of the smoking section, regardless of if they are smokers or not.
I wander to this area often, as I've been smoking for three years myself, and I find it sad to see how many regulars have enticed others to participate in this cancer, as if there are no adverse affects.
They bicker and complain of the impending smoking ban, but I don't understand why they press their right to death by cigarette.
According to the American Cancer Society, smoking is most common in college-age students 18-24, and a study done by The Institute of Medicine of The National Academies showed that 19 percent of college students smoke.
The American Non-Smokers Rights Foundation says there are at least 349 campuses that have banned smoking in the United States, and this trend of a smoke-free nation is growing rapidly.
~Secondhand smoke is not only annoying it's deadly.
~It contains more than 4,000 chemical compounds, and at least 60 of them are known to cause cancer.
~Each year, heart disease claims an estimated 46,000 of non-smokers who live with smokers.
~Approximately 225,000 children less than 18 months are hospitalized annually due to pneumonia or bronchitis.
~Also, pregnant women who are exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely to have underweight babies.
And these are just a few of the risks.When we all know of the dangers surrounding us, why are we so upset to dispose of them?
I smoke cigarettes regularly and can't think of a reason why I should impose my decisions on others by forcing them to walk to their classes through a cloud of smoke. I hope the smokers of EvCC can relate and realize the consequences of their actions.
Cody Cecil|Contributing writer
You might go broke if you're a bottled-water-drinking, candy-eating nicotine addict.
Starting June 1, more of your your favorite vices are going to start affecting your income even more than they already were with the new tax approved by the Legislature and Gov. Greoire.
Gregoire's plan contains $493 million in tax increases, including a 1 cent per ounce tax on bottled water, a 2 cents per 12 ounce can increase on carbonated beverages, an increase of one George Washington on the already outrageous price of cigarettes, and a measure to raise $28 million by charging sales tax on candy and gum.
These increases are part of Gregoire's plan to raise more than $600 million to avoid large cuts to educational and social services. The plan also includes an increase on the tax rate of oil products and other pollutants.
Is it good idea to try and avoid massive cuts to important education and social services? Yes.
Could there be other ways of trying to raise money than price gouging consumers for their favorite products? Double yes.
I don't eat candy, and drinking tap water is the same for me as bottled water, but lots of people do and although those things may not be as bad for you as chain smoking a pack of cigarettes, lots of people are still addicted to them.
Although I don't smoke as much as I used to, I still love my Camel Lights, which already cost a ridiculous $8.78 in April. Now a pack of smokes is just about a quarter shy of $10!
Down in Camp Pendleton, Calif., I paid $3.15 for a pack of cigarettes less than four years ago, nearly one third of what I am spending after Memorial Day.
Now some people might say, "That's your fault; quit smoking," and I'm OK with that, but I guarantee whoever says that partakes in at least one of the items that is increasing in price, whether it be drinking a soda at a barbeque or chewing a piece of gum because your breath didn't smell kissable after you ate that garlic pasta. In the long run its all going to put a dent in your income.
I can guarantee I will quit buying cigarettes (or at least try really, really hard to) because I can't afford $10 a day. So maybe our governor's plan is actually a conspiracy to turn Washington into the healthiest state in the country by trying to force the populace to quit or at least cut down on these so-called unhealthy vices (except for the zero calorie bottle of H20 of course).
Before I started writing this I was against this new increase in statewide taxes, but I think I changed my own mind: Now I believe that a healthy state is a happy state. Besides, who wouldn't want to beat California and the governator in a physical fitness test?
Be the first to comment on this story