The seven Eastern students who voiced their opinion at the tobacco-free forum spoke against a complete ban on tobacco on campus on Wednesday. 

The Student Senate members hosted an open forum to discuss the proposal to prohibit the use of tobacco on campus. 

Gregory Schoonover, a senior philosophy major, said he is not a smoker, but does not agree with a ban of all tobacco on campus.

“I abhor tobacco use and I think it contributed to my mother’s death and I can find no justification for somebody to smoke,” Schoonover said. “Having said that, I can find no justification for this initiative either.”

He said the ban would be a way of controlling the campus community, not promoting health. 

“If we want to dictate behaviors on the things that concern and annoy people on campus, I don’t think we would get much done,” Schoonover said. 

Student Senate Speaker Mitch Gurick, a sophomore business major, said the reason the Student Senate had a forum was to gauge how students feel about the proposal. 

Gurick said the proposal has sparked debate and discussion throughout the campus community. 

“For some, smoking on campus is a lifestyle choice, freedom choice, and for others, it is a health choice,” Gurick said. 

He said they wanted to gain feedback on the impact of such a policy. 

“We (reached) out to our constituents to gain feedback and see how you feel about going tobacco-free,” Gurick said. 

Gurick said he felt like the senate members were able to hear both sides of the issue and will be able to make more of an educated decision.

Lee Ann Bryant, the Coles County health educator and a panelist, said in response to Schoonover that the ban would help decrease the number of habitual smokers on campus. 

She said research has shown that students become habitual smokers once they reach college.

“As a public health representative, I would like to see this become a smoke-free, tobacco-free campus so that students are less likely to become habitual, addicted smokers,” Bryant said. 

The EIU Tobacco Coalition did a survey last month to see what students think of tobacco and smoking. 

Eric Davidson, the associate director of health services and the student affairs assessment coordinator, said the coalition sent out a survey to all students and faculty. 

Out of the entire population 1,386 people completed the survey, Davidson said. 

Of those who completed the survey 17 percent were current smokers, 43 percent were past smokers and 39 percent were non-smokers, he said. 

Davidson said every six out of 10 students reported that smoking was a concern or annoyance.

Bill Knobbe, a junior philosophy major, said it is not a practical ban because it would be difficult to regulate. 

He said there is also an issue of minority versus majority opinion. He said while a majority said they found smoking an annoyance, not everything can be fixed. 

“There are a lot of things that are annoyances that people think, so are we going to start banning all of these things?” Knobbe said. 

He said people choose that lifestyle and should be able to make their own decisions. 

“We should be tolerant of other lifestyle choice,” Knobbe said.  

Panelist Richard Wandling, the political science department chairmen, said these policies have to have some room for compromise.

Christopher Fenwick, a biology major, said his old school had a smoking ban and while there may have been a decrease, there was an increase in litter of cigarette butts on the ground.

“I feel like we can have some kind of compromise as opposed to having a complete tobacco ban,” Fenwick said. 

He said there are currently smoking areas that are not enforced and there could be more enforcement of those. 

The survey results said 58 to 59 percent of student strongly agree or agree with a tobacco-free campus, Davidson said, adding that 60 percent of students said fines were a successful consequence.

“There will always be a concern that people might leave campus, particularly in today’s economy and recruitment,” Davidson said. 

The survey showed that if the ban was passed, seven percent of students stated they would consider transferring and five percent of faculty or staff said they would consider leaving. 

Student Body President Kaci Abolt, a senior communication studies major, said she is looking forward to discussing the issue with the senate and has no idea what they will decide. 

“I hope this isn’t the end-all to receiving feedback,” Abolt said. 

Gurick said the members will discuss it at their next meeting before writing a bill with their decision. 

“It is important for us to have them here because we would have been able to gain the level of understand that we got,” Gurick said. 

Samantha McDaniel can be reached at 581-2812 or slmcdaniel@eiu.edu.