Illustration by Dan Groh
Manal El Haj, Reporter
As electronic cigarette usage increases, Austin Community College tackles the issue of whether vaping is subject to the same on-campus regulations as traditional smoking.
ACC officially went smoke free in January 2012, banning cigarette smoking on all of its campuses and centers. However, many people are turning to vaping to wean themselves from nicotine, and the devices are showing up on campuses.
“E-cigs are a lot less harmful then traditional cigarettes,” Rio Grande student Cheryl Pierce said, “[I] can tell the difference in lung capacity and [I] physically feel less tense.” Pierce, who started using e-cigarettes over a year ago, said they help her fight the urge to smoke traditional cigarettes.
Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, are battery powered devices that convert liquid nicotine and flavorings into a vapor that users inhale without the use of fire and without releasing the traditional smoky smell.
ACC Board Policy C-10 states the “College District prohibits the use, distribution, and/or sale of smoke-producing tobacco and related products and devices by any person on all premises owned, rented, leased, or supervised by the College District, including all college District facilities, buildings and grounds.”
Dr. Mary Hensley, Executive Vice President of College Operations at ACC, said ACC’s policy is de- signed to ban all smoking without interfering with an individual’s right to use tobacco. The intent, she said, is to prohibit the individual from subjecting others to second-hand smoke. this means that products like e-cigarettes and chewing tobacco do not violate Board Policy C-10. Although electronic cigarettes are allowed on ACC campuses, Hensely said that if professors or other specialized service personnel on campus determine that electronic cigarettes are not allowed within their setting, they may prohibit the use of texting, food or drink for reason of equipment safety or distracting behavior. ACC Speech professor Theresa Glenn includes restrictions on the use of e-cigarettes during class in her syllabus. Glenn said she is uncomfortable with e-cigarettes in the classroom, “because science doesn’t know what the secondhand hand effects of the vapors are” and she does not want to expose her students not herself to potential dangers.
Given these values, the Austin Community College District shall: Establish and maintain a smoke-free environment for all College District facilities. 1.1 The College District prohibits the use, distribution, and/or sale of smoke producing tobacco and related products and de- vices by any person on all premises owned, rented, leased, or supervised by the College District, including all College District facilities, buildings, and grounds. This prohibition applies to property owned by others that the College District uses by agreement, and further applies to all District vehicles. The only exception to this total prohibition shall be in those circumstances where the College District is party to a contract or other agreement relating to the property that limits its authority in this regard.