Dear Editor,
Please forgive my ignorance of laws governing smokers’ rights in Tennessee, but I have a simple question: How is it that a university which purports to train young people to become adults and think for themselves has such childish controls over its students that they are not even allowed to have a smoking area on campus?
If we smokers were hidden away somewhere in a clandestine, covert spot on campus where NONE of the non-smokers could see, hear, smell or be offended by us, then why could we not decide for ourselves AS ADULTS whether we wished to stand outside to participate in an enjoyment which is still legal and even participated in by our new president?
Yes, folks, Obama smokes. What a hoot! Wonder what Phil Bredesen thinks about that? I am a “nontraditional” student in many aspects, returning to this campus after living in the “real world” with plenty of hardships thrown in to help me mature along the way.
However, I still believe in the traditional wisdom which allows young people in a secular learning environment to grow through their own mistakes and to develop their own views about the world and how they wish to live in it. I guess I am slightly disturbed by the fact that it seems like I am on the grounds of a supposed institute of higher learning that is filled with people being treated like children.
Oh, and another thing … along the lines of being children … women, will you please wipe up your “pee-pee” off the toilet seats in what are supposed to be ADULT bathrooms? Oh, well, maybe I just answered my own questions. Guess I’ll just continue to smoke in my own car and make sure I don’t leave my urine on someone else’s toilet seat.
-Kim Lewis

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