USI has officially completed it’s first semester of being a tobacco-free campus.

Devyn Curry’s asthma has also declined over the semester.

“Before the (smoking) ban, I walked on campus, and I would have to avoid a person or group of people who were smoking,” Curry said. “It would bother me when people were walking in front of me and would blow their cigarette smoke in my face without even considering me walking behind them.”

Curry, junior art major with a photography emphasis, said she would begin to cough, and sometimes have to use her inhaler but not by choice.

Curry’s asthma began as exercised-induced asthma and developed into allergic asthma as she got older.

“My doctor thinks that the cause of the beginning of my asthma was because I grew up in a home where my dad smoked a lot inside the house,” Curry said.

Cigarette smoke aids Curry in asthma attacks if she inhales the smoke for too long.

“It makes my chest feel tight and causes me to have short breaths,” Curry said.

As for Curry’s sports-induced asthma, she said she is not able to run for a long period of time without coughing and using her inhaler.

With the smoking ban in place, Curry said she “feels as though the air is cleaner, and that I can walk wherever I please without worrying about reaching for my inhaler every time.”

“I do still continue to see people smoking on the side of buildings, especially the tech building.” Curry said. “But I have definitely noticed a difference in my asthma since the ban has been in place.”

Maribeth McGeehan’s story is quite different than Curry’s.

“I had been smoking since my sophomore year of college,” McGeehan said. “I had never even tried a cigarette until one night when I was really stressed out at the library one of my classmates offered me a cigarette; after that I began smoking when I worked on papers, homework, projects, etc.”

When McGeehan, senior communications studies major, first heard of the smoking ban she was “really angry.”

According to the policy, tobacco use is only allowed in vehicles and in designated outdoor areas near housing facilities.

“I did not feel that campus had the right to tell students and faculty where and where not they could smoke,” McGeehan said. “However, over the past couple of months, I have been able to slowly stop smoking.”

“I think for those of us who were recreational or social smokers, the smoking ban has done us a huge favor.”

McGeehan said the ban is lacking in re-inforcement.

“For the most part, most smokers I know still find a way to smoke on campus. I still see people smoking while walking to class or outside the library,” McGeehan said. “The ban is not really being enforced so if people really want to have a cigarette, they are going to do it.”

Kiel Hendricks, sophomore psychology major, has a different opinion about the tobacco-free policy on USI’s campus.

“Even as a smoker I agree with ‘a’ smoking policy but not necessarily USI’s,” Hendricks said.

Hendricks said he agrees with something that gives due respect to both non smokers and smokers.

“Non smokers—by recognizing that a respectable distance must be maintained from common areas, and smokers—by providing a more convenient location for that respectable distance than USI’s current policy dictates,” Hendricks said.

Hendricks said he follows the smoke-free policy, but it becomes quite a challenge during the day on campus.

“This smoking ban is a pain in the ass, (there’s) no other way to say it,” Hendricks said. “Hi, I’m addicted. I have an admitted need for this material. I have 10 minutes to get to class, and now I have an additional stop to make and no additional time to make the stop off at my vehicle to puff one down.”

Hendricks said he believes USI could have made a compromise between smokers and non smokers—to have designated smoking areas located all throughout campus that could relieve the urge to smoke more accessible.

Student violations will be processed under the Student Code of Conduct. Complaints regarding tobacco-free violations on campus should be referred to the appropriate dean, director or human resources manager for faculty or staff and to student affairs for students.