2008 Woodie Awards
Letters to the Editor
Issue date: 4/15/08 Section: Opinion
I am also a student at Mesa College who is affected by the rapidly increasing gas prices in California. They have actually saved me money as well. I live about 1 1/2 miles from campus and because of the outrageous prices, I make the extra effort to walk to school every day. I have a small tank in my car and I go through it in about two weeks, maybe even longer. As much as I loathe the expenses of gas, I want to add that these prices could actually be a blessing in disguise. People will drive if they must, but they are taking extra measures to decrease driving as much as possible. This could have a tremendous positive impact on the environment. Perhaps all things have their own reasons for happening. I just wanted to add in that aspect of it. Thank you for your time.
Maggie Young, 22
Journalism/Communications
The smoking laws on the Mesa campus have gone too far this semester. Even after Mesa became a "smoke free campus," we smokers were able to find our little safe havens away from the crowds of healthy non-smokers and get our daily nicotine fix in between classes.
On the first day of the current semester, I went down to the usual smoking spot near the cafeteria to find a row of frustrated people standing practically in the canyon on the other side of the street smoking. I looked around and saw at least 20 new "No Smoking" signs. I also saw a woman carrying a sign that had a picture of a young person smoking and words that read "Utter Fool". Clearly, smoking a cigarette on the edge of the canyon so not to be on what is considered Mesa campus is the best solution to the smoking problem, especially considering the wildfires we San Diegans are all very familiar with.
My question is this: why is so much effort put into eliminating smokers? We're college students. Some of choose to smoke, some choose not to. We know the dangers, we know it's bad. We obviously wouldn't do it if we didn't need to, and no rule that Mesa creates is going to make us quit. I understand not wanting litter from cigarette butts. I understand that cigarette smoke bothers some people. So why not give the smokers a specified area to smoke, separated from the non-smoking Mesa population and well equipped with ashtrays? It's something to think about.
Maggie Young, 22
Journalism/Communications
The smoking laws on the Mesa campus have gone too far this semester. Even after Mesa became a "smoke free campus," we smokers were able to find our little safe havens away from the crowds of healthy non-smokers and get our daily nicotine fix in between classes.
On the first day of the current semester, I went down to the usual smoking spot near the cafeteria to find a row of frustrated people standing practically in the canyon on the other side of the street smoking. I looked around and saw at least 20 new "No Smoking" signs. I also saw a woman carrying a sign that had a picture of a young person smoking and words that read "Utter Fool". Clearly, smoking a cigarette on the edge of the canyon so not to be on what is considered Mesa campus is the best solution to the smoking problem, especially considering the wildfires we San Diegans are all very familiar with.
My question is this: why is so much effort put into eliminating smokers? We're college students. Some of choose to smoke, some choose not to. We know the dangers, we know it's bad. We obviously wouldn't do it if we didn't need to, and no rule that Mesa creates is going to make us quit. I understand not wanting litter from cigarette butts. I understand that cigarette smoke bothers some people. So why not give the smokers a specified area to smoke, separated from the non-smoking Mesa population and well equipped with ashtrays? It's something to think about.
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