The Associated Student Government is set to tackle the issue of smoking on the Fresno City College campus later this fall, said Daniel Gai, ASG president. Gai said the association will first solicit the opinion of students on whether to ban, restrict, or leave the smoking rule as it presently is.

Gai said he is most concerned with assuring that ASG supports what students want. To this end, the student government is organizing public meeting in the forum halls in order to let students know about the current efforts to address the issue. ASG will be reaching out to History, Political Science, and Social Studies instructors and will also host debates on the topic.

“My concern is what the students want,” Gai said, “If they don’t want it [smoking], I don’t want it.”

To help gather input from students, the ASG purchased “Votenet Solutions”, a polling software with which they’ll gather the opinions of all FCC students.  Gai hopes all students participate, including those who are only taking classes online.

The ASG will make its decisions based on the results of this survey, said Gai. If less than 25 percent of students do not respond, then it is a “dead issue”, and the ASG will not focus any more resources on the topic. But if a majority of the students reply to the surveys, for or against, the ASG will move forward with plans for the debates. At the end of the semester, students will vote in a special election and its results will determine the new smoking policy on the FCC campus. The election is not expected to take place before the Christmas break.

Using a model based on other college districts such as Santa Rosa Junior College which effectively banned smoking, the ASG has constituted a committee to help with the planning, finding suitable locations for the debates, and publicizing the speaking tour, to assure that students know about them ahead of time.

Being fair to both sides of the issue is important to the ASG, and the debates will allow both sides to share their opinions. Gai encourages those who feel strongly about the issue to speak out.

They should “come to our office, come to the senate meetings, and if they want to call me, they can,” said Gai.

According to information available on the college web site, smoking is prohibited in all campus buildings and sale of tobacco products are forbidden on campus.

The current state law, AB 846, limits smoking in public areas. Smoking is prohibited from taking place indoors, or within 20 feet of a door way or open window.

The ASG is currently moving forward to address the issue. “Students say it’s not enough,” said Daniel Gai. “They are tired of the smoke, and they’re tired of the campus littered with cigarette butts.”

Gai said that each year, ASG receives hundreds of complaints concerning smoking allowed on campus, asking that it be banned.

Brandon Holland, first year Computer Networking student, said he was concerned about second hand smoke. “It isn’t healthy at all,” Holland said. “I’m an athlete and growing up, I had smoke clouds blown in my face.”

According to an article published on the WebMD website, 126 million nonsmoking Americans are exposed to secondhand smoke, both at home and at work. Nearly 50,000 deaths in adult nonsmokers in the U.S. are caused by secondhand smoke.

Holland said he encounters groups of smokers on campus on a regular basis and after leaving one of his classes, walks through a group of “about 50 people, all smoking.”

One of the implications of completely banning smoking on campus is that smokers would have to go off campus to smoke. According to President Gai, this could actually increase the chances of car and pedestrian accidents, as there would be more people leaving campus every day.

FCC student, Freddy Cunningham, third year Biology major, is against the possibility of banning smoking on campus.

“They don’t have the right to ban it, not just because a lot of people smoke, but because it’s what we want to do,” Cunningham said. “It’s a personal choice; we’re 18. If you’re 18, it’s fine.” Cunningham said he is interested in participating in the debates.

“The only reason I think they could ban it is the littering. I feel that if everyone threw away their butts, there wouldn’t be a problem,” he said.

Brandon Holland would also like to participate in the debates just so his voice “can be heard.”

Once debates and speaking tour are completed, the ASG will decide on one of three plans —  leaving the rule as it is; completely banning smoking on campus, or establishing designated smoking areas.

Stefanie Sorondo, first year Architecture major, said she dislikes the littering of the campus that is associated with smoking. “People are not responsible,” said Sorondo.