Straight Talk from the President - February 6, 2008
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Dear Colleagues,
I hope the recent Mardi Gras break was just enough to get everyone rested as we move full speed into the spring semester. I know many of you and many of our students were energized by the Mardi Gras Ball that SGA held immediately prior to the break.
This was our sixth - I know that is hard to imagine - ULM Mardi Gras celebration. The genesis of the Mardi Gras Ball began with our students back in 2003. They heard about the Washington, D.C. Mardi Gras celebration through press reports that year and requested their own Mardi Gras Ball. With the excellent work of the SGA, Campus Activities Board, and the people in Student Affairs, the first Ball was held at the Atrium, since we did not have an adequate room to hold a large number of students. Those of you who were there that first evening remember how great our students looked dressed in gowns and tuxedos and how Sarah Saunders took her dance students out on the floor and got everyone involved. Our students relaxed, had fun, and will remember that night for a long time.
I relay this history because last Thursday night was also a wonderful evening. It really is difficult to describe the feeling of witnessing our students, our faculty and our staff enjoy themselves on campus. This year, we enjoyed more of everything: more students, more faculty, more beads, more masks. Everyone enjoyed it as much as the first Mardi Gras Ball. If you missed this annual tradition, we look forward to seeing you next year.
On a more serious note, the ULM Faculty Senate recently passed a resolution, which you can find at the conclusion of this letter, supporting a ban of smoking products on all ULM facilities and properties. This proposed ban applies to all university faculty, staff, students and visitors.
I am supportive of the Faculty Senate’s position on this issue, and because I want to continue our tradition of open dialogue, I am establishing a Smoking Policy Investigation and Implementation Committee. The function of the committee is to gauge the views of the entire campus community on a smoking product ban on campus, to develop a formal policy based on campus input and to develop procedures for implementing the new policy. I am calling for volunteers from all campus constituencies to serve on the committee. Representation on the committee should consist of smokers and non-smokers, faculty, staff, and students.
If we do not receive interested individuals from across the campus, I will ask the various representative bodies, including the Faculty Senate and the SGA, to appoint members to the committee. If you would like to provide input on this matter and help the campus develop and implement a policy, please e-mail me at cofer@ulm.edu with “Smoking Policy Committee” in the subject line.
Sincerely,
James E. Cofer
President
Resolution:
Whereas, a university values the health and well-being of its students, staff and faculty; and,
Whereas, the National Cancer Institute states that smoking causes 87% of lung cancer deaths and is responsible for most cancers of the larynx, oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus, and bladder; and,
Whereas, secondhand smoke is currently responsible for an estimated 3,000 lung cancer deaths among U.S. nonsmokers each year; and,
Whereas, health risks caused by cigarette smoking are not limited to smokers in that secondhand smoke, or involuntary or passive smoking, significantly increases the risk of lung cancer and heart disease; and,
Whereas, exposure to environmental smoke has been associated with non-cancerous conditions including: chronic coughing, phlegm, wheezing, chest discomfort, lowered lung function, severe low respiratory tract infections, such as bronchitis or pneumonia, more severe asthma and increased chance of developing asthma, eye and nose irritation, severe and chronic heart disease, low birth-weight or small size at birth for babies of women exposed to smoke during pregnancy, spontaneous abortion (miscarriage), adverse effects on cognition and behavior, and worsening of cystic fibrosis;
NOW, THEREFORE, LET IT BE RESOLVED, by the Senate of the Faculty at the University of Louisiana at Monroe as representative of the faculty, that we support a full ban on the personal use of smoking products on all University campuses, facilities and property, and this applies to all University faculty, staff, students and visitors. Resolved, Nov. 29, 2007.
The FACULTY SENATE