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New policy packs smokers in zones

By Maurice Ndole

This semester 17 smoking areas have been designated on campus, and in two months smokers will be forced to stay in those areas to light up.

The smoking policy officially takes effect Oct. 1.

An eight-member committee appointed by President John Welty, university president, developed the policy in Fresno State. Dr. Jeannine Raymond, the interim vice president of administrative services, headed the committee. The committee members included among others Associated Students then-President Ryan Jacobsen.

According to Dr. Raymond, violators of the policy risk administrative discipline.

The policy bans smoking in all but 17 designated smoking areas. It also discourages the use of smokeless tobacco in classrooms and in enclosed facilities. It also bans the sale and promotion of cigarettes and other smoke-generating tobacco products on campus.

CSU regulations already in place ban smoking within 20 feet of buildings, but university presidents have been given the powers to set up stricter rules, which include banning smoking in college campuses altogether.

The new policy is the result of the lobbying efforts by Campuses Organized and United for Good Health, which formed in April 2002. The organization urged CSU campuses to adopt stricter rules on smoking.

The campus has offered to help smokers quit through cessation programs. The services will be provided through the health center, California Smokers Health Line and Employee Assistance and Development.