Smoke Out

PUBLIC HEALTH Smoke Out

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CAMPUS

notes from around the green

College bans tobacco on campus.

The College will become nicotine-free starting March 18. President Philip J. Hanlon ’77 announced the decision on January 13 to prohibit all “nicotine-delivery devices” on any College-owned or -occupied property and on public streets or sidewalks within 20 feet of College property. Hanlon cites growing evidence that links serious illnesses and Covid-19 deaths with nicotine use as one reason for the ban. It applies not only to students, faculty, and staff, but also to visitors and outside contractors as well.

Some students balked at what they called a surprise decision and criticized the lack of student input. “It seems like an unnecessary overstep of administrative power,” says Maud McCole ’23, a nonsmoker.

As part of its $11,900 Tobacco-Free Generation Campus Initiative grant from the American Cancer Society, the College surveyed 6,509 enrolled students in 2019 about their tobacco use, cessation attempts, secondhand-smoke exposure, and views about campus tobacco policies. The survey, which had an 18-percent response rate, found that 68 percent of students agreed colleges have a responsibility to lessen the risk of tobacco addiction with policies that discourage tobacco product use, and that 90 percent of students agreed colleges have a duty to promote healthy behaviors and adopt policies that ensure people have smoke-free air to breathe.

“What’s most concerning has nothing to do with the effect of the ban but its underlying principle: that a higher authority has the power to restrict your choices for your own good,” the Dartmouth Libertarians wrote in an email to all undergraduates. Adds David Yin ’22, vice president of the Libertarians: “This is just going to punish people for smoking, because some people aren’t going to quit, and why should they?”

Chris Peck, president of SEIU Local 560, estimates about 10 percent of his union’s members are smokers. “There are going to be people who are upset and people for whom this is all they need to kick the habit,” Peck says.

The College plans to offer resources, including counseling and cessation-aid kits, to ease the transition.

—Madison Wilson ’21

WINTERIZED

The first big snow of the season struck in mid December. Susie Peerson, Tu’22, and friends found the fairways of the former golf course in perfect condition.

CLASS OF 2025

566

Early admits announced in December. Sixteen percent will be first-gen college students.

COVID-19

86

Number of students who had campus privileges revoked during fall term because they violated pandemic safety protocols

FROM THE ARCHIVES

"Another double concert Friday evening featured a triple-bill of folk singers—Eric Anderson, Tom Rush, and Brewer and Shipley.During the relatively sedate early performance we overheard a student in the row behind us complain. 'The problem with the audience is that no one's had much to drink yet.' We enouyed the music anyway. The midnight movie, the weekend's only attempt at pedagogy, was Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex."

—WINTER CARNIVAL REPORT FROM THE MARCH 1977 ISSUE OF DAM