La Voz

The Foothill-De Anza College District no-smoking policy has been in effect for nearly six months. I am part of a small group who is working hard to enforce it. Since the beginning of the quarter, we've been taking weekly walks around campus educating noncompliant smokers about the policy.

As you might imagine, we've heard many comments about the policy -- some good, some bad, and some really off-the-wall. The statements we've heard most often are, "I didn't vote for the policy," and "It's not being enforced until September 2006." I hope the following responses to these comments will help clarify the policy.

First, I'd like to thank the majority of smokers who are complying with the new policy, which states that smoking is allowed in designated parking lots only. Your cooperation is duly noted and very much appreciated.

OK, now for the comments. "I didn't vote for the policy." You're right; you didn't. The Board of Trustees voted to pass the policy. Here's how the whole thing started: in November 2004, Foothill and De Anza faculty, staff, and students were invited to participate in an online survey developed to assess their opinions about smoking.

An impressive total of 6,839 individuals responded, with 2,615 responses from Foothill, 4,175 from De Anza, and 49 from Central Services. Overall, the majority (6,309) of the responses were from the students. Both campuses had very similar responses.

Twelve percent of the respondents said they were smokers. Sixty-three percent of the respondents felt that secondhand smoke was a problem, and 56 percent didn't think the board policy was being followed. The majority of respondents were interested in a more restrictive smoking policy than 25 feet from building doors and windows (which was the policy at the time).

Based on the results of the survey, the committee felt that the time was right to join nearby community colleges including Ohlone, Cabrillo and Mission colleges, and move towards a smoke-free campus.

Over the next several months, the committee met with each of the various governing bodies on each campus to share the survey results. Then asked for their support in going to the Board of Trustees.

We presented our proposal to the Board of Trustees on June 6 and the Board approved the policy on June 20. The policy went into effect September 1, 2005.

"The policy is not being enforced until September 2006." There seems to be two confusing issues around this comment. The fi rst is with the word "enforce", and the second is that the policy has two phases.

The word enforce does not mean punish, as many seem to believe. To enforce simply means "to implement" or 'to put into place'. This means that the no-smoking signs, the verbal reminders, the messages on the De Anza web page and in the Schedule of Classes are all examples of enforcement. Other examples of enforcement are warnings, citation, and fines.

Do we have those now? No. Will we have them in the future? It depends. We made a conscious decision to use the fi rst year (05-06) to ease-in the new policy. Like any big change, people need to have some time to adjust.

Phase one is what we are calling enforcement through education. Notice that it is still enforcement. Phase two, which will begin in September 2006, may involve stronger measures of enforcement if the "softer" enforcement measures don't work. At this point the administration hasn't identifi ed what those increased enforcement measures will be.

This week, you will be receiving an email asking for your participation in a second online survey. This survey will assess your opinion on the new no-smoking policy. I will share the results of that survey in a future article.

In the meantime, if you are a smoker, please be aware that smoking is only allowed in designated parking lots, and the policy is being enforced.


Mary-Jo Lomax is a health educator at De Anza College. For more information, visit the Health Center in the Hinson Campus Center.

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