Capital Region
Thank you to those who participated in the March 11th Webinar entitled Promoting Tobacco Cessation on College Campuses in NYS: Experiences from the Field. Nearly 75 people heard from panelists who work with or on colleges to help people address their tobacco dependence. The Powerpoints from each speaker can be found below:
The bill (S4853B- Hannon/A7277B-Mosley) that would require all state-run SUNY campuses to be tobacco free on their property failed to be acted on in key committees in the New York State Legislature. In the Senate, the bill never made it out of the Higher Education Committee, Chaired by the powerful Senator LaValle of Suffolk County, who apparently is not supportive of the bill. In the Assembly, where there seems to be more support for the bill, it passed the Higher Ed. Committee only to languish and ultimately die in the Codes Committee. Clearly more education and pressure is needed to move the bill forward. That said, it can take several years for a bill to garner enough support to pass both houses.
Mark your calendars for the NCTP’s Forum on Tobacco Policy, October 28, 2014, at the Kansas City Airport Marriott Hotel. This event will provide opportunity for sharing and learning about how to make campuses tobacco-free. The program will feature discussion on topics such as: purpose(es) of tobacco-free campus policies; achieving compliance through culture change; creating broad support; identifying and overcoming obstacles; social justice; smoke-free vs. tobacco-free; components and timeline of policy implementation, after care and evaluation of policy effectiveness; role of the campus community; and more. For more info go to www.tobaccofreenow.org
The National Center for Tobacco Policy proudly announces the Norman Myers Award for Leadership in Tobacco Policy recipients for 2014. Ms. Jenniferlynn Sullivan, formerly of the American Cancer Society, New York, and Dr. Joe Hankin, President of Westchester Community College, New York, will be the third recipients of the award. Ms. Sullivan led a coalition that helped New York become a leader in the movement to make college and university campuses tobacco-free. Under President Hankin’s leadership Westchester Community College, implemented its tobacco-free campus policy in 2012. Congratulations to Jennifer Sullivan who led the way on the New York State Colleges Tobacco Free Initiative over the past few years. We wish her well in her new endeavors.
July 11, 2014 Minnesota Daily – Twin Cities Campus to Go Smoke-Free in July December 8, 2013 Boston Globe Magazine September 10, 2013 USA Today August 26, 2013 RWJF August 24, 2013 Tallahasee Democrat December 10, 2012 The Atlantic July 25, 2012 Christian Science Monitor September 1, 2011 CNN January 24, 2011 New York Times regarding CUNY.