Dean of student Affairs Dr. Mark Davis says the biggest problem so far has been the lack of communication between administration and students.
By JJ Bowman & Renee Ramirez
Associate Editor and Staff Writer
The Princeton Review may not consider Pepperdine among the nation’s trendiest schools, but when it comes to smoking cigarettes this university is following the national movement by curbing the number of places acceptable to smoke on campus.
This semester the university amended its rule to keep smokers 20 feet from all buildings and added a policy that called for designated smoking areas on the main plazas of Seaver College and the Drescher Graduate Campus. The policy requires smokers to light up by various tables away from main thoroughfares. Smoking is prohibited around the fountain, by the rock and in the path between Payson Library and the Seaver parking lot.
Dean of Student Affairs Dr. Mark Davis said the biggest problem thus far has been in communicating exactly where people can smoke. Maps were placed by the Seaver lot before the stairs to main campus to notify students where they can smoke, but their primary function so far has been to help visitors locate various buildings, Davis said.
“(Our goal now) is to do a better job of communicating on the plaza where you can and cannot smoke,” he said.
Placards reading “designated smoking area” have been placed on the appropriate tables, but some students have been more inclined to adhere to the policy elsewhere on campus that permits smoking anywhere more than 20 feet from a building. Davis said the most positive improvement with the new policy has come by the Payson Library where smokers have moved from the benches along the walkway toward the main entrance and over to tables in a less congested area.
These tables have become so popular, Davis said, another table for non-smokers will also be provided.
The most difficult area to keep smoke free, Davis said, is by the coffee cart in front of the fountain. That space, in the heart of much foot traffic between the Sandbar and the library, still causes some concern as does people smoking at the Hero’s Garden, but Davis said after nearly a semester of this policy, only one incident of smoker defiance had been reported to him — a staff member pointed out that a smoker was outside of the designated area only to encounter a contentious attitude. This incident exemplifies Davis’ stance that all members of the community have to work together in order to enforce the policy.
“My hope is that both smokers and non-smokers will work together on this,” he said. The next step if people repeatedly ignore the smoking policy would be to enforce it with fines, but Davis said such a step would not be taken at this time.
For some students on campus, the need to have a specific policy for smoking is unnecessary.
“The smoking policy is an impotent attempt by the university to control student morals,” junior Travis Bradley said. “I’ve never seen it enforced and I’ve never seen anybody detrimentally effected by it not being enforced.”
As the trend toward a smoke-free culture continues, however, such policies will continue to be maintained.
November 06, 2003