Michigan Stadium: Smokefree in 2010
If you're a smoker, plan to hold off for a few hours whenever you come to a Michigan Football game this year:
[Press Release]
Michigan Stadium to go smoke-free in 2010 season
The University of Michigan Athletic Department will make Michigan Stadium a smoke-free zone when the 2010 season opens against Connecticut Sept. 4.
"We have allowed individuals to smoke on the concourse in the past but with the new renovations and the university's commitment to become a smoke-free campus in 2011, we decided it was in the best interest of everyone to institute the change now," said U-M Director of Athletics Dave Brandon. "The move will ensure a healthier environment for all fans attending Wolverine football games."
Smoking already was not permitted inside Michigan Stadium's seated-bowl area. Now the smoke-free environment will extend to everything inside the gates of the Big House.
In April of 2009, The University of Michigan announced its commitment to become a smoke-free environment in July 2011. The change aligns perfectly with the institution’s goal to improve the health of the U-M community. Since the change was announced, thousands of students, faculty and staff have provided feedback regarding the roll out of the plan to ensure it occurs in a thoughtful, inclusive and respectful manner.
Subcommittees which include smokers, former smokers and never-smokers are carefully considering the implications for student life, faculty and staff, grounds and facilities, and visitors to the University.
The idea to have the university go entirely smoke-free began with student complaints, and it is one more step along a path set in the 1980s, noted Robert Winfield, M.D., the university’s chief health officer and co-chair of the Smoke-free Initiative committee along with Kenneth Warner, dean of the School of Public Health. In 1987, the university adopted a ban on smoking in buildings, (with exceptions for some residence halls) and in university vehicles. In 1998, the U-M Health System prohibited smoking on its grounds and in public spaces, and in 2003, the student-led Residence Halls Association eliminated smoking from all resident halls.
The U-M will join the University of Iowa and Indiana University, both of which implemented their smoke-free campuses in 2008. In all, more than 260 campuses in the United States and elsewhere have gone smoke-free.
For more information on the smoke-free initiative, go to http://www.hr.umich.edu/
[/Press Release]
Not surprising, to say the least. Also, probably a welcome change for some (most?).
Thank you for sharing this information and thank you to the University of Michigan for making the entire stadium complex smoke free.
I am completely behind this move. People will be ok if they have to wait a couple hours for a cig. It's only the polite thing to do when in a crowded area.
I don't smoke so I really can't relate, but I think some people are going to have a hard time waiting 3+ hours between cigs. I'm all for banning smoking in bars/restaurants, but I think this is going a little overboard.
...then maybe they'll take that as a sign that maybe they should quit
the only smoke allowed is the vapor trail left by denard and co.
to hold people over.
Never have been a smoker, and while I support the idea of banning smoking when there are large crowds around, I question the smoking ban as a whole. From what I understand, there have been no efforts to create designated smoking areas for those that still want to smoke while on campus. I know at some airports they have smoking rooms, and I don't think something like that would be too hard to implement. I feel like the ban is effectively taking away a person's right to do what they want with their body. Practically speaking, many people are stuck on campus for 8+ hours a day. Try not to limit your thinking to students, also consider people who make their living working for the university. They don't have a house or appt. they can run to between classes if they want a smoke break. I don't condone smoking, but if people want to do it, then that is their business. There are very plausible ways of making it so they can do it without effecting the general public.
Also, there is some speculation that MSC may benefit financially from the smoking ban. She has stock options with Johnson & Johnson, who make stop-smoking aids. I don't know how much she could stand to gain, but there is potentially a conflict of interests here.
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