Without warning or explanation, the Ball State University administration decided to take away the smoking area behind the Arts and Communications Building on Tuesday.
A story giving Ball State's explanation appears in today's issue of the Daily News. But what if we hadn't called and asked about it? Would the powers that be ever explain why they did it?
The decision is fine. The explanation is fine. We are upset about the lack of communication. Many students returned to campus after the holiday weekend to find out the place they usually went to smoke is now off limits.
When Ball State decided to limit you to printing 1,000 pages per school year at Bracken Library it sent a long mass e-mail beforehand. It explained why the administration made the decision and when it would go into effect.
The e-mail sent Tuesday informed the student body that the change had already been enacted. Even worse, the message had no explanation of the change.
Students voted on whether to have a few designated smoking areas in March 2008 when smoking was banned. The university felt obligated to keep you informed and even gave you the chance to affect the outcome. Why not now? Why wouldn't it at least communicate with students who smoke?
When we called to get an explanation, Kay Bales, vice president for student affairs, was cooperative and more than willing to give us the university's justification for the change. But not everyone reads the Daily News and some that are affected by the change won't get an explanation. You deserve direct communication from the university when it makes changes that affect your lives. Why not avoid situations like this in which the administration possibly alienated hundreds of students?
The message Ball State sent, regardless of intent, was that the smoking students are less important than everyone else. Ball State sent the long, thorough e-mail before the printing changes which applied to everyone. But when the change only affected smokers, the administration gave three sentences.
The university should be consistent in its actions. The student body deserves to be kept in the loop about changes on campus. This time might seem like it doesn't matter but students should keep the university in check. The administration needs to know that you care about what goes on around campus, or it might start telling you less and less. Next they might decrease meal card allowances or cut the shuttle buses without warning you.
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