Talking Stick - January/February 2009 - (Page 20)

res liFe students who wish to quit smoking in order to abide by the policies. Many institutions are working with the American Lung Association’s Smokefree Air 2010 Challenge, a program aimed at making all public places in America smoke-free by 2010. When working with college and university campuses to create smoking restrictions, the American Lung Association also encourages reliable cessation programs. “Effective tobacco cessation services need to be available to students, faculty, and staff on all college and university campuses to help addicted tobacco users quit,” says Tom Carr, manager of national policy for the American Lung Association. Marshall agrees that, with Pennsylvania’s new state-wide ban, there is a demand from campuses for the resources to help people quit smoking: “One of the side effects of the new law is an increase in students seeking smoking cessation programs. It’s inconvenient to go off campus to smoke, so students have incentive to quit.” At Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where smoking in public was recently banned, students, staff, and faculty have formed a committee for their campus called Healthy Campus 2010, part of a national campaign sponsored by the American College Health Association. The committee focuses on healthy behaviors in 28 areas, such as fitness and alcohol use, but they have focused their most recent efforts on smoking. At SIUC, a representative from the housing department sits on the tobacco committee, which created the Live Free-Tobacco Free Initiative in order to educate students on the new smoking policy and to provide resources for quitting. The housing department at the University of Southern Indiana sponsors programs about smoking cessation with the health center. Director Berry recognizes the difficultly of creating a smoke-free residence hall and campus but also sees the benefits. “I think it’s worth it. Not only for the health concerns, but it also cuts down on roommate conflicts,” says Berry, explaining that before this policy was implemented, students would often lie on housing contracts about whether or not they smoked. “Parents would fill it out for them or look over their shoulder. Then it would come up and manifest itself in roommate conflicts.” At SIUC, Kirchmeier also agrees that there are benefits, despite the struggle, but that the greatest result is a happy and healthy population of residents in the halls: “It’s all about the students’ health and well-being.” tS Meredith Whipple is a Talking Stick editorial intern. http://www.nssinc.com http://www.nssinc.com

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Talking Stick - January/February 2009 Contents Online Now Vision Just In Your ACUHO-I Transitions Res Life Facilities Business Special Focus Calendar Assessing Assignments On Your Honor Conversations First Takes Reporting Out Welcome Snapshot

Talking Stick - January/February 2009

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