Despite the election shows overwhelming public support and endorsement from celebrities such as Lance Armstrong, efforts to establish a state ban on smoking in the workplace have fallen flat in recent sessions of the Legislature of Texas. But the state agency finds that billions of dollars, he has at his disposal may allow him to be more effective in obtaining a comprehensive tobacco-free policies – especially on college campuses.

University administrators on campuses across the state are considering campus-wide, tobacco-free policies as a result of the new rules established by the Cancer Research Prevention Institute of Texas. In January, the Institute Oversight Committee has a policy that requires recipients of grants that have policies prohibiting tobacco use in buildings, which funded the research activities have taken place, as well as in open areas in the vicinity of these buildings. Grantees must also provide services for the smoking community members who want them.

For schools that pride themselves on their research functions, such as the University of Texas at Austin, who received about $ 30 million in grants from the institute and hopes for the $ 88 million on new requests – there is a clear financial incentive to institute changes.

“If people have to go a little further, if they have to think about the cigarettes a little more, we encourage them to smoke less – resulting in a positive – or throw it all together,” said Bill Gimson, executive director of the institute.

He added that the new rule is not a legislative response to the failure, but it is simply in accordance with the mandate of the Institute for the Prevention of Cancer in Texas.

In 2007, a research institute was established with the adoption of a constitutional amendment, which easily won voter approval. The State was allowed to issue $ 3 billion in bonds over 10 years to fund cancer research and prevention efforts. Nearly $ 600 million in grants were issued, primarily for educational institutions.

Institutions are currently receiving grants must be in compliance by August 31 or the current funding may be jeopardized. The policy will apply to all new proposals submitted by the grant of March 1 or later.
Around the state agencies are doing everything possible to reconsider its policy of tobacco.

Howarth, Adrienne Moore, director of human resource services at UT, said that the restriction of the building, that current and future studies may arise – or review questions for each semester as a change in the affected places – can be a challenge.

“We have scientists who are doing their day-to-day research in the laboratory, and then go and do their analysis and review in the office,” she said. “And they may graduate researchers who are doing their job in a library.”

The current policy prohibits smoking in all buildings and within 20 feet of doors and windows. Howarth-Moore said the empowerment of the University of Termination of existing services and generate additional signs and educational materials, perhaps, will have economic consequences, but she said that the amount is unknown.

In early 2011, UT student government called for a campus-wide tobacco ban. Bill Powers, president of the university, openly opposed it, arguing that it would violate personal freedom.

Gimson shrugged off the notion of excess, saying the towns still have a choice.

“We came up with a sensible policy,” he said. “If people want to expand that more power to them.”
Although Gimson said changing the rules is intended for carrots rather than the stick, it’s a great that many schools can not afford to ignore.

“I do not know what we want to call it,” said Taylor Eighmy, Vice President for Research at Texas Tech University, which received nearly $ 1 million in grants. “This is not a law, it does not mandate, it is not federal or state requirements.

“But it is suggested that language, and we intend to fulfill it.”

And with research funding at stake, the president of UT comes around. “The president powers support review of these rules in light of recent decisions CPRIT”, said Gary Susswein, spokesman for the university.

Although the prospect of having to leave campus to cigarettes, of course, creates some anger on college campuses, the number of smokers welcomes change.

“It would definitely be uncomfortable, but I’m all for smoking campus,” said Kirk Van Sickle, Jr., who started smoking when he was 18 years old. “On a personal note, it would probably help me quit smoking. It would be good for me.”

Campus-wide ban is not certain. As deadlines approach, UT administrators said that this policy remains one of the many options under consideration.

The University of Houston, which received nearly $ 7 million in grants from the Cancer Research Institute, the student government recently approved a decision to extend the ban on smoking within 15 feet of the objects up to 25 feet.

“This is a topic of interest and importance to the university, even before we learned about the new guidelines,” said Richard Bonnin, a spokesman for the university.

He noted that UH is also considering campus-wide measures. “It’s still early in the process, and we want to make sure that every point of view is expressed, before making a final decision,” he said.
Jason Cook, a representative of Texas A & M University in College Station, which has received more than $ 3.4 million in grants, said the issue would be difficult in the 5000 plus acres & M, which contains more than 500 buildings and several government agencies.

“Taking into account the question of the size and scope, and several organizations in our university, we are going to very interesting discussion,” he said, adding that the first step is likely to set boundaries around the building where the Institute funded study at the present time there .

Several institutions in Texas, including the University of Texas System campuses in Arlington, and Brownsville, have already been adopted campus-wide tobacco ban themselves.

At UT-Arlington, which has received about $ 2.3 million in grants, the policy was phased in for almost two years. Kristin Sullivan, a spokesman for the university, said that the economic impact was nominal – approximately $ 7,000 per year.

Gimson said he sees progress in anti-tobacco movement in politics on college campuses.
“I think we’re ahead of the wave,” he said, “but it certainly is a wave.”

Tags: tobacco ban

Trackback URI | Comments RSS