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Students and faculty will no longer be allowed to light up on the University of Texas at Arlington’s campus, President James Spaniolo said Friday, as the school becomes the first four-year college in the region to ban smoking and tobacco use campus wide.
The ban is scheduled to take place in August 2011.“Many of us remember a time when smoking was commonplace in offices, malls, airplanes, public buildings, sports arenas, and even hospitals,” Spaniolo said in a written response. “But times have changed, and it is time for UT Arlington to take the next step forward in protecting the health of our campus community.”In April, Tarrant County College trustees voted to approve a campus-wide tobacco ban at the two-year school, allowing smoking only in private vehicles. And the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth, which offers graduate programs, enacted a campus wide ban in November 2008.Nationally, 172 colleges and universities have campus tobacco bans, according to a list on the UT-Arlington Web site. In Tarrant and Denton counties, Texas Christian, Texas Woman’s and Texas Wesleyan universities and the University of North Texas allow smoking in designated areas, although they typically prohibit it inside buildings. Currently at UT-Arlington, smoking is banned within 50 feet of a building, window or air intake system. Violators are fined $10 for the first offense and $25 for a second offense - all of which can be waived if they enroll in a smoking-cessation program.“During the next 21 months leading up to Aug. 1, 2011, we will address issues of enforcement,” Spaniolo said.Staff writer Eugene Trainor contributed to this report, which contains material from the Star-telegram archives.Nathaniel Jones, 817-390-7635
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