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ANDY CAMPBELL; The (Centralia) Chronicle |
• Published October 13, 2009

Centralia – Some students are speaking out over new smoking restrictions at the Centralia College campus that limit lighting up to a few designated areas on the perimeter of the facility.

New “Non Smoking Area” signs are stenciled on the sidewalks and banners that read “Non Smoking Corridor” line walkways across campus.

Steve Ward, the college’s vice president of finance and administration, said the plan was set forth years ago and was implemented at the beginning of this school year.

“The majority of our student body wanted to walk across campus just once without smoke in their face,” Ward said last week. But some aren’t so happy.

Student Alison Lam, 18, said the walk from a designated smoking area in a parking lot is a long one, making it hard to get to class.

“I suggest they set up smoking areas outside each building,” Lam said. “We never had this problem last year.”

Added nonsmoker Geoff Ripp, “I think it’s discriminatory and wrong.”

Some students appealed to the college administration, though Ward said it was clear by the end why the rules were put in place.

If students disobey the rules, he said, they will go through the standard disciplinary process in the college’s policy handbook. If a nonstudent violates the restriction, they’ll be asked to leave the campus.

Ward said he didn’t know whether the restrictions would lead to a campus-wide ban on cigarette smoking, noting that those rules would depend on the “desire of the campus.”

“This really hasn’t been a big deal so far,” he said. “No one has thrown themselves in front of an oncoming train because they can’t have a cigarette.”