Starting in the fall semester of 2009, Skyline will be changing its smoking policy, restricting smokers to designated smoking areas in all of the parking lots. There will be no smoking allowed on campus. “This change will provide a healthful, conducive environment for learning,” said Ray Hernandez, president of the academic senate and also the respiratory therapy program director. “We look at the campus as an academic arena and a center that provides truthful information and guidance.” According to Hernandez, the no smoking campaign has been a continual process, going from no smoking within 20 feet of building entrances or windows, to designated smoking areas on campus, to completely eliminating smoking on campus all together. Steven Lim, a pre-health major and a non-smoker, believes that Skyline should not be smoke free. “People should be healthy,” Lim said. “But not because they are forced to. It should be a choice.” Kris Marsh, a philosophy major and also a non-smoker, agrees with Lim, saying he doesn’t “believe that organizations should infringe upon personal rights.” In a survey of how many people at Skyline smoke, 13 percent of the student population and 56 percent of the faculty responded, only 14 percent combined were smokers. Hernandez knows that not everyone will be pleased with this new policy, but a majority will be affected in a positive way. For that 14 percent, however, Hernandez hopes that, because of this new policy, smoking will be seen by them as an inconvenience and they will quit. Contrary to what one might expect, people who do smoke or have smoked are more in favor of the switch than those who do not smoke. Rachel Rothstein, a psychology major and a former smoker (she quit four years ago), is perfectly fine with the change. “It is impossible to have smoking on campus without affecting non-smokers,” Rothstein said. “It’s also harder to enforce designated smoking areas.” Raydan Alhubaishy, who is currently the Commissioner of Public Records at Skyline, agrees that people do not follow the designated smoking area rules, and, because of this, there might be a push in the future to make the campus completely smoke-free (this includes the parking lots). Peter Thompson, who is majoring in business, says that he thinks the new policy is a good idea because many smokers on campus don’t submit to designated smoking area rules and that it won’t affect him. “I don’t mind abiding by the rules,” Thompson said. The two proven, most effective techniques to prevent smoking, says Hernandez, are taxation and restrictions. But, Hernandez adds, because the college is restricting people’s right to smoke, they have a couple of responsibilities, which are to provide options as well as resources, such as counseling in the health center and affordable smoking cessation classes. So, it seems that, the battle against smoking is moving forward, but at a slow pace. Alhubaishy mentioned that a resolution was advocated to eventually be shown to legislators that, if passed, would ban smoking on all campuses state wide. “These decisions have not been made quickly,” Hernandez said. “Movement forward in steps will make it a more effective change.