Wayne State considers smoke-free campus

Over the past school year, Wayne State University has been hearing a lot about whether smoking should be ban on campus. As of right now smoking is only fully banned at Wayne States Medical School, which took effect in 2009.      

At Wayne State’s main campus there is a smoking ban within 25 feet of any buildings rule.        

Dominique Denny, a junior at Wayne State University said she likes the idea of a full ban.           “I fully support the idea of them banning smoking on the main campus.” Denny said, “ They already have it ban at the medical school and besides the smokers here don’t even follow the 25 foot rule, I’m sick of smelling like smoke coming out of state hall.”             

With the state of Michigan banning smoking in public places such as restaurants, work sites, and bars back in 2010, public universities seems like they should be next.    Nearly two-dozen Michigan universities and colleges are currently smoke-free. 

Not all students at Wayne State feel the same way. Some students like WSU senior Rachel Flum feels that smokers should have some say as to the banning.     

“ No I don’t agree with the ban, it’s not fair at all.” Said Flum, “ I smoke and what I think they should do is enforce the 25 foot rule more, not just do away with it and smoking altogether.”        

Just this past May, Wayne State formed its own 11-member task force that was made up of students and faculty to decide if the university should be smoke-free.  

Few businesses around Wayne State have gone a step further as to stop selling tobacco altogether. The CVS on Warren Ave stopped selling cigarettes at their stores on Oct.1^st of last year.            Austin Meredith a junior at Wayne State also agrees with banning smoking at Wayne.    

“I think that a ban on smoking on-campus should be considered simply because the majority of those I see smoking completely ignore the rule now.” Meredith said, 

 “For those of us who have serious reactions to it or for those who just don't want to be around it, it is very unfair to have to walk straight into a cloud of smoke entering or exiting buildings on-campus. Meredith also talks about the smoky smell in the rooms.   

“I have even been in an event hosted in a building on-campus where periodically the room would start to smell of smoke because of the people outside smoking right by the windows.” Meredith said, “ If no one is going to enforce the rule and smokers won't follow it, it should be banned.”

With the debate still going on its hard to tell whether Wayne State will or will not commit to have its campus smoke-free. 

                                               

Using my smartphone as a camera

 For this post we were instructed to go out into the world, by world I mean Wayne State, and take newsworthy  pictures with our cell phone. After we were satisfied with the shots, that we took we uploaded one to Twitter and the other one to Instagram.

For Twitter, I decided to take a picture of the other half of the student center while it was being worked on. This was no easy task. While walking around the basement trying to find the bathroom I saw construction guys walking out from behind a door.

This was obviously the door that led to the construction site. 
Being nervous and yet adventurous, I decided to see what was on the other side. The rule that I followed here was to keep very still, which was pretty hard, due to the fact of where I was. I knew I needed a clear shot and I didn't what to be there any longer then I needed to be. 

For Instagram, I had originally when to the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) first. After realizing that they are not located on WSU campus, I then was at a lost for what to do next. I honestly couldn't think of another picture to shoot until I saw a man smoking. Over the past holiday Wayne State was in talks about banning smoking on campus. I remember reading online and after getting reassurance from our instructor, I snapped a quick pic of this fellow gentleman. I had to use my zoom on my iPhone for two reasons:      

First, I wasn't going to walk up to him and say, "Do you mind me catching you doing something you're not supposed to be doing here?" Secondly, it was cold and I had a to get to class quick. I know its kind of grainy, but that fact that you can see the actual cigarette in the picture makes my day.

This assignment was fun for me. It brought me out of my comfort zone a little and made me take my time to line up my shots.

Me, Myself, and Mikey

So for my photojournalism class, my instructor Lori King asked us to create a blog for the class. Our first assignment on this blog was to write a quick summary about us. This is my story.

         I was born 1990 to Michael and Jessica Ference. I have 2 adopted sisters, who are both older, Theresa and Tina. 


         I grew up in Warren, Mich., which is the 3rd largest city in the state. While growing up I attended Van Dyke Public Schools.

While I was in high school I began working for the school’s yearbook club. After high school I decided to continue my education by going to Macomb Community College for two years, then transferred to Wayne State University. This is my third year at WSU.

My major at Wayne State is journalism, and I am minoring in public relations. The reason why I am taking this class is because today as a journalist you need to have as many tools in your bag as possible to stand out.