STARTING June 10, the official star of school year 2002-2003, the University will be a smoke free campus. That is, if the smoke free campus campaign approved by the Council of Regents last March 22 will be properly and strictly implemented.
Through a memorandum issued last May 21, Secretary-General Fr. Winston Cabading, O.P. informed the Thomasian community about the smoke-free campus campaign to be spearheaded by the different organizations. The campaign aims to “promote the physical well-being of the Thomasian community.”
As implied by the word “community,” the resolution applies to all students, faculty members, administrators, personnel, and even visitors. Therefore, if the Administration is serious in its campaign, there should be no exceptions. Also, in this drive to make UST smoke-free, every member of the community should police each other from the people with positions to the ordinary visitors or passers-by.
And to facilitate the implementation of the campaign, appropriate signs and billboards “will be put to raise the level of awareness and eventually the commitment of Thomasians to a smoke-free campus.”
The campaign goes to show that the general welfare of the community should always be put first. Considering the hazards of smoking to both the smoker and the people around, the policy should be followed by all.
The impact of first-hand and passive smoking, otherwise known as second-hand smoking, in terms of morbidity, mortality, and economic costs to the Thomasian community and to society, in general, is staggering.
The Thomasian community should realize that a cigarette is a very effective and highly-engineered drug-delivery system. By inhaling, the smoker and the people around can get nicotine to the brain very rapidly.
It is already a given fact that smoking may result in lung cancer and other diseases, but what is known to many is that second-hand cigarette smoke smoke inhaled as a result of being in the presence of someone else’s cigarette can cause heart disease.
What is worth noting in this initiative is the nearness of the start of classes, which is also the start of the full implementation of the policy, because University officials have yet to come up with and disseminate proper guidelines on the policy. But nevertheless, the initiative itself is already an achievement, which hopefully would not fall prey to the chronic disease of “ningas kugon.”
This campaign is indeed a long-due initiative from the University officials and a must in an area where students and others deserve a healthy and nurturing atmosphere.
