Smoking Policies and Tobacco Ban
On UT Dallas Campuses
April 29, 2014
Marketing 4340 Consumer Behavior
Hunter Hock
Cori French
Kyle Gibson
Elara Medlin
Lauren House
Table Of Contents
Executive Summary
3
Background
4-7
Analysis
7
Recommendation
8-9
Qualtrics Survey Results
9-11
Interview Transcript
12-13
Sources
14
2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The objective of this report is to examine the effectiveness of current smoking
policies in place on campus at the University of Texas at Dallas. We will investigate how
these policies are being implemented across campus, if they are at all. Our research
results will come from both an online questionnaire, as well as one-on-one personal
interviews with students and staff.
In 2012 all buildings on UTD’s campus, as well as sidewalks, parking lots and
walkways were declared tobacco free. This ban includes cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and
smokeless vapor cigarettes. This was done due to the fact that our school receives money
from an anti smoking organization called CPRIT. Our purpose is to find out how many
members of our student and facility were even aware that our campus is supposed to be
tobacco free, as well as provide ways to educate individuals on campus about these
policies. We want to a find ways to enforce these rules for the health and well being of
the entire campus community
Our results, which you can find at the back of this report, concluded that only
24% of individuals on campus knew that we even had a non-smoking policy. While few
people where aware that UTD was supposed to be a non-smoking campus. This was
supported by our interviews with 4 students and one faculty member who made it very
clear that they are in support of non-smoking policies on our campus.
While we understand that individuals on our campus are adults and allowed to
make their own choices, as a higher education institution we feel that the effects of
second hand smoke is an infringement of the rights of others to live a healthy lifestyle.
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BACKGROUND
Almost two years ago, in August of 2012, all buildings on The University of
Texas at Dallas’s campus were declared tobacco free. The ban of tobacco use on campus
was extended to parking lots, sidewalks, walkways and any attached parking structures
that were neighboring to the Natural Science and Engineering Research Lab (NSERL).
The NSERL currently receives funding for research by the Cancer Prevention Research
Institute of Texas (CPRIT). Earlier in 2012, grant requirements mandated by CPRIT
required recipients to adopt a tobacco free workplace. This requirement states that all
recipients of CPRIT funding in amounts greater than $25,000 must be tobacco-free, and
UTD is one such institution that is awarded CPRIT grants. The campaign has been
instigated out of a long-standing concern for a healthier work, research and educational
environment and the new CPRIT requirement.
UT Dallas’ current smoke free policy prohibits smoking within any University
building, and within 30 feet of any building opening through which air can easily travel.
The new policy in 2012 prohibited the use of any tobacco products in campus buildings,
as well as campus advertisement of such products, distribution of tobacco product
samples, and improper disposal of or littering with tobacco products. Employees, students
and visitors are prohibited from using tobacco products such as hookah, electronic
cigarettes, chewing tobacco, smokeless tobacco, cigars, snuff, and cigarettes. Although ecigarettes are not allowed, there still are alternatives available for those who want to quit
smoking and other tobacco related activities. The UT System’s Living Well program
offers free tobacco cessation support, including counseling and various nicotine
4
substitution drugs, to UT System employees. Students will be able to obtain online
support through the Student Wellness Center.
“We are going to try and have programs that will try to convince
students to not use tobacco. It’s not healthy for you. The awareness has
to come gradually, though. You can’t force it on someone.”
- Student Government President Rajiv Dwivedi in 2012.
The current policy for enforcing the ban on tobacco use states that Awareness and
education are keys to implementing the policy. The school plans to build awareness of
the policy through electronic notification, signage and informational meetings. The policy
is explained during the admission and enrollment process for new students and during
new hire orientation for faculty and staff. As of now, It is expected that students,
employees and visitors will voluntarily comply with this campus-wide policy. Students,
staff and faculty may respectfully inform others of this policy to enhance awareness and
encourage compliance. For those who continually violate the policy, they may be subject
to disciplinary actions. The University does however; strongly rely on the encouragement
of peers to remind offenders of the policy and encourage them to quit smoking.
The Effects:
As of January 2, 2014, at least 1,182 college or university campuses in the U.S.
have adopted 100% smoke free campus policies that eliminate smoking in indoor and
outdoor areas across the entire campus, including residences (Americans for Nonsmokers
Rights). This number has grown from the 586 campuses in 2012 and 446 campuses in
2011. The Americans for Nonsmokers Rights believes this number will continue to climb
rapidly as a result of the growing social norm supporting smoke free environments, and
5
support from within the academic community for such policies for campus health and
well-being.
Tobacco control and inhibition exertions are usually aimed at current and
probable tobacco users, but so much more needs to be done than that. Although the health
effects for smokers are detrimental and extremely toxic, it is also known that second hand
smoke can directly affect everyone surrounded by it. The college campus can be a
dangerous environment for students, staff, and visitors since there are many locations
where those can be exposed to second hand smoke. Common places on campus for high
traffic and smoking are places like residence halls, dorms, building entrances, outside
student centers and parking lots.
Second Hand Smoke Facts:
o Secondhand smoke kills 53,000 non-smoking Americans
o Secondhand smoke contains more than 43 cancer-causing agents and many other
toxins, including formaldehyde, cyanide, carbon monoxide and arsenic.
o Secondhand smoke exposure causes heart disease and lung cancer in adults and
respiratory problems in children.
o There is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke exposure; even brief exposure
adversely affects the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.
o Secondhand smoke can trigger immediate health effects for people with asthma,
allergies, COPD or other medical conditions.
o
Many people are misinformed about the use of tobacco, and are influenced by their
peers to believe that smoking could improve their performance in school, drive more
focus and increase their concentration. However, smoking is actually correlated with
lower academic performance, as smoking becomes a crutch for students who “chase a
baseline of performance that non-smokers don’t need to try to reach.” While smokers
have a hard time living without a cigarette, people who do not smoke tend to study longer
and
more
efficiently
and
do
better
in
school
overall.
6
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the effects of smoking
include increased chance of lung cancer, coronary heart disease, stroke, respiratory
diseases, lung diseases and other health risks. Tobacco accounts for nearly 443,000
deaths in the United States each year, which are one in five deaths. Despite the
consequences, smoking among college students is still prevalent, but due to the growing
awareness on college campuses, the trend is now declining. Using the ABC approach to
attitudes we hope to help continue this decline of smoking on college campuses
ANALYSIS
Through our research we confirmed our assumption that many students and staff
at UTD never even knew our campus was smoke free. If you refer to the results at the end
of this report 76% of individuals that took our online survey were unaware that the school
receives money and a requirement of these grants is that campuses be tobacco free. Our
survey also showed that a small population of our campus community, only 8% is
affecting a rather large portion, of those surveyed smoking on campus bothers 66% of
individuals.
We also found through our random interviews with students and faculty that all
but one felt like it was important that if smoking was to take place on campus it should be
far from a door way or other area where it can’t easily come in contact with non-smoking
individuals. Shelby made a good point that “while people who choose to smoke are
making the choice to adversely affect their health I should not have to deal with the
consequences of these choices.” This feeling seemed to be wide spread throughout those
that we talked to, many people felt like while it was ok for someone to be a smoker they
7
shouldn’t have to deal with the adverse health effects of second hand smoke and that they
should not have to be exposed to it against their will.
We believe that these results support our position that efforts need to be made to
better inform the campus community on current policies that are in place. We feel that by
educating individuals about the non-smoking efforts at UTD this can continue to help
lower the number of persons smoking while on campus. Making sure there are
consequences for failure to adhere to these rules also helps reinforce how important the
university takes the non-smoking policies, as well as the health and well being of our
campus community as a whole.
RECOMMENDATION
Implementation is key when it comes to enforcing the non-smoking policies on
UTD’s campus. Our recommendation has multiple parts to it. We feel that educating
individuals about campus policies should be the number one priority. By educating
individuals we hope to change the lax attitude about smoking at UTD. This goes along
with the first component in the ABC approach to attitudes. We propose using this
education initiative in a few different ways. First we believe that there needs to be more
signage put up around campus to make sure people know that this is a smoke free
location. Just as Mr. Polze said in his interview “we can’t plaster signs all over campus”
but we feel that a major portion of the solution to the issue is making the community
aware. Another recommendation we have is to move all of the ashtrays on campus away
from doorways where they are currently located. Since technically no one is supposed to
smoke within 30 feet of any building on campus. We feel that these subtle but effective
reminders will help reinforce that smoking on campus comes with serious restrictions.
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Our final recommendation reinforces the non-smoking policies in a less subtle
way. We feel that UTD should start ticketing individuals that break the non-smoking
policies on campus. It will be at officer discretion but our survey found that 92% of
people would be less likely to smoke on campus if there was a monetary fine attached to
being caught. This is done on all Community College campuses run by Collin County
and has seen tremendous success. We hope that these changes in the overall attitude of
UTD will help change on campus behavior, which will eventually lead to a change in the
thought process pertaining to smoking, of all individuals on campus.
While we are aware that individuals have the right to smoke we feel that our
policy is not a violation of their rights or freedoms. Mr. Polze made a great point in our
interview with him “there are lots of things we do to take away people’s rights or
freedoms, particularly when they impinge on others. Its taking away someone’s right to
say “you can’t drive an automobile if your BAC is above a certain amount”, or
jurisdiction with no texting and driving. The reason they are taking it away is because
it’s dangerous and can harm other people. “
In recent years there has been a lot of push for no smoking in public places due to
the negative effects of second hand smoke. Places such as bars and restaurants as well as
parks and event venues all have nonsmoking ordinances. Our group feels that the next
logical step is making college campuses non-smoking and we hope that with the use of
the recommendations provided in this report we can continue to make UTD a better,
healthier campus community for all involved.
9
Initial Report
Last Modified: 04/07/2014
1. Do you smoke?
#
1
2
Answer
Yes
No
Total
Response
3
35
38
Statistic
Min Value
Max Value
Mean
Variance
Standard Deviation
Total Responses
%
8%
92%
100%
Value
1
2
1.92
0.07
0.27
38
2. Does smoking on college campuses bother you?
#
1
2
Answer
Yes
No
Total
Response
25
13
38
Statistic
Min Value
Max Value
Mean
Variance
Standard Deviation
Total Responses
%
66%
34%
100%
Value
1
2
1.34
0.23
0.48
38
3. Did you know UTD currently receives funds from an
anti-smoking organization (Cancer Prevention Research
Institute of Texas) to be a tobacco free campus?
#
1
2
Answer
Yes
No
Total
Response
9
29
38
%
24%
76%
100%
10
Statistic
Min Value
Max Value
Mean
Variance
Standard Deviation
Total Responses
Value
1
2
1.76
0.19
0.43
38
4. Would knowing you could be ticketed for smoking on
campus discourage you from doing so?
#
1
2
Answer
Yes
No
Total
Statistic
Min Value
Max Value
Mean
Variance
Standard Deviation
Total Responses
Response
35
3
38
%
92%
8%
100%
Value
1
2
1.08
0.07
0.27
38
One on one Interview
Dr. Polze- JSOM Professor, Non-smoker
Chris – Business Administration Major, Junior, Non-smoker
Dan- Marketing Major, Senior, Smoker: Cigarettes
Shelby- Physiology Major, Junior, Non-smoker
Dena- Criminal Justice Major, Junior, Non-Smoker
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Interview Transcript with Mr. Polze
Briefly explained our project to Mr. Polze..
Well, UT Arlington and San Antonio are completely 100% tobacco free, like you can
smoke in your car with the windows up, but that is it.
What policy would you prefer?
From an administration standpoint, like administering a policy, the 30 ft is really hard to
police because really it falls on: If you don’t like someone who is smoking tobacco 20 ft
next to the door, do you call the campus police? By the time they get there, they’re
already done with their cigarette and are gone. Do you issue them a citation? It’s really
up to you to say, “hey the ashtrays are out there, its 30 ft”.
Now, if they moved the ashtrays out, or designated the area on the ground, but that looks
kind of corny, then it would be easier to maintain the policy. That’s what they do some
places. They have a designated smoking area in the Salt Lake City airport. It has a
designated smoking section in the airport, enclosed in glass, mostly in international
terminals. Administration of the policy if it’s completely tobacco free makes it much
easier to control. You avoid concerns such as, “How close am I?” “What do I do if it’s
raining?”
If I’m not a smoker, I don’t want to walk in to a building to someone else’s secondhand
smoke. But, they smoke right near the doors, and it gets sucked into doors. So, whatever
the policy is, it has to be enforced and I think that will be the hardest part.
Do you smoke?
No. I have never have been a smoker. I really appreciate the smoking ordinances and
smoking bans in restaurants and bars. I use to quit going out because I hated coming
home smelling like smoke, all in my hair and clothes. Now, Dallas has ordinances, Plano
is that way, Austin is that way, so now it’s easier for me to not worry about it. I know
there are people that like to smoke, and they have a right to smoke, so there is definitely
some balance that goes on.
Having an attorney background, do you see any conflict with trying to enforce
public smoking policy on public grounds being in Richardson, a city that does not
have many smoking ordinances?
The university can set its own policy on it without going through the city of Richardson.
UTD as a state institution can set that policy. The only challenge I see is like education
or enforcement, whenever there are basketball games or weekend soccer tournaments that
are not UTD affiliated. So people come on campus and don’t know the rules, they go
behind the concession stand to smoke a cigarette and they end up getting a ticket? Maybe
it would alleviate the situation if police can have leeway to give warnings instead of first-
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time citations. It would be weird to put signs up ALL over the place making aware of the
policy, but some places do that. But then you get into the questions, is it smoke free or
tobacco free? Are e-cigs allowed? What about chewing tobacco? Or, maybe its nicotine
free all over. But then what about somebody who is wearing the patch? It’s not
probable, but what if it did happen? Should they be subject to a citation? What about
Nicorette gum? It depends on what exactly you’re trying to limit.
It sounds like you are probably trying to get at the invasion of one’s health by breathing
in secondhand smoke. Or, maybe you’re getting at promoting healthier lifestyles for
students? Also, does this apply to apartments and residence halls? Can I go on my patio
and smoke a cigarette, or an e-cig? That’s where it gets even harder, with those residing
on campus.
My guess is that residence halls have their own policies and are already tobacco free, but
who knows. There are a lot of challenges ahead. The biggest part of the policy is the
mission and goal you are trying to accomplish.
What if we narrowed it down to JSOM?
What if you put chalk to demonstrate the current policy length? It will wash away easy
and be used to educate people. I would especially move the ashtrays away from the
building. Do they expect people to hold their hand underneath and collect all the ash and
walk to the tray 30ft away? Probably not.
People use cigarettes to counter stress. Is this taking away one of their personal
rights?
Sure, yes it is. But there are lots of things we do to take away people’s rights or
freedoms, particularly when they impinge on others. Its taking away someone’s right to
say “you can’t drive an automobile if your BAC is above a certain amount”, or
jurisdiction with no texting and driving. The reason they are taking it away is because
it’s dangerous and can harm other people.
There are tons of areas where, in New York you can’t buy a certain size of soda because
of the sugar level, and a city ordinance which states that business owners can’t use transfat in restaurants. Why shouldn’t a vendor be able to sell hotdogs and hamburgers cooked
in trans-fat? Because it has negative consequences and it harms other people. The best
reasoning with someone in this type of argument would be willing to admit that the other
person is right, this is taking away some freedoms that you have, but those are sacrifices
that we all make. Question is, what is best for most people.
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SOURCES:
American for Non-Smokers rights
"Going Smoke Free: Colleges and Universities." Americans for Non-Smokers Rights.
N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2014. <http://www.nosmoke.org/goingsmokefree.php?id=447 >.
Secondhand Smoke
“The Health Consequence of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the
Surgeon General.” April 6thh, 2014.
<www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/secondhandsmoke/ Stanford Outdoor Tobacco Smoke
Study. www.tobaccosmoke.org/outdoor-tobacco-smoke>.
The University of Texas at Dallas Policy
"Tobacco Free Policy." The University of Texas at Dallas. The University of Texas at
Dallas, n.d. Web. 4 Apr. 2014. <http://www.utdallas.edu/tobaccofree/faq/ >.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention
"Smoking and Tobacco Use." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. USA.GOV,
10 Feb. 2014. Web. 5 Apr. 2014. <http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/>.
UTDallas Tobacco Bans Go Unenforced
Haseeb, Manar . "Tobacco Bans Go Unenforced." The Mercury. The University of Texas
at Dallas, 26 Feb. 2014. Web. 3 Apr. 2014. <http://utdmercury.com/tobacco-bans-gounenforced/>.
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