Do you constantly walk out of your English, Spanish, Political Science or History classes into clouds of what you thought was a heaven-sent excitement of being out of your lecture, but then realize that it’s a smoking hell attacking you? Yeah, we’ve all been there. For some of us negative effects for others, no big deal.
    Smoking, a sensitive topic to people at this university, as well as around the world. To smoke or not to smoke, that’s the question, debate and for some, a problem. Smoking has been restricted and even banned in restaurants, offices and universities. However, here at VSU, smoking is currently still permitted, but of course with a few restrictions.
According to section XIII of the Housing and Residence Life policies and procedures on the VSU website, “All VSU Housing & Residence Life facilities are smoke‐free environments.”
    In addition, Event Services also has a facility policy: “The use of all tobacco products is prohibited in University facilities, including all offices, leased spaces, doorways, meeting rooms, restrooms, dining areas, and loading docks.”
 With all these policies and procedures, wouldn’t we think that students, faculty and staff would not have to walk through puffs of smoke holding their breath? Yeah, but unfortunately this is not the truth as we know it.�
   All these rants and concerns boil down to consideration for others. Smokers should be courteous of non-smokers on our campus and politely step away at least 50 feet as stated on many posted signs on campus doors around campus.
    If you are a smoker who feels like you want to quit, there are programs that happen annually at VSU to aid you with your journey.
The American Cancer Society Freshstart program, sponsored by VSU’s Campus Wellness, and the annual Great American   Smokeout are just a couple of the programs that aid people in wanting to quit smoking.
     These programs give the support and resources to quit these habits.
For those of you who aren’t smokers and judge others, I’m pretty sure that there is a bad habit you have that bothers people as well.
    Remember, be considerate, and help keep this campus a courteous campus.

This editorial was written by Danielle Everson (dveverson@valdosta.edu) and it expresses the opinion of the entire editorial staff.