TECHNICIAN
wednesday january
13 2010
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
Some say smoking ban oversteps boundaries STUDENTS DIVIDED AS TO WHETHER GOVERNMENT SHOULD LEGISLATE, ENFORCE NON-SMOKING LAW Nick Tran Deputy News Editor
Jan. 2 North Carolina, the largest tobacco-producing state in the country, adopted a policy to prohibit smoking in public restaurants, bars and smoking establishments where smoke would be allowed to migrate to a prohibited area. The law is a complaint-driven system whereby individual complaints prompt state officials to investigate and issue due punishments. Police officers are to respond to complaints made against individuals who smoke and can issue fines up to $50. The local health department is responsible for responding to complaints made against public establishments refusing to enforce the ban and may issue fines to the owner of up to $200 for each violation. A persisting argument against antismoking policies is the government infringing on individual and property rights. Leigh Daniels, a junior in arts applications, said it is not the place of the government to make these decisions. “It’s up to the person [to smoke],” she said. “The government has no say as to what choices you make as an individual.” Daniels said while restaurants should provide an environment suitable for the entire family, bars cater to an older demographic which should be responsible enough to make such decisions on their own. “[The law] is understandable for res-
taurants but smoking should still be dence of damage caused by secondavailable in bars. It’s not right for the hand smoke and the Surgeon General government to impose these things,” report was composed of cherry-picked Daniels said. cases to justify the piece of legislation. For Julian Dalton, a freshman in “The government is infringing on engineering, however, the legislation people’s personal liberties,” Slep said. brings a welcome change. “It’s not the position of the govern“It’s a good idea because despite hav- ment to tell people what they can or ing smoking sections, [restaurants or can’t do.” bars] are still one big place,” Dalton Corey Baldwin, a freshman in mesaid. “Everyone breathes the same air.” chanical engineering, questioned the Dalton said he was happy to be able morality of the government’s decision. to breathe freely and not come home “I’m sure [the ban] is legal because smelling like smoke when going out. it made it this far, but it’s probably not very ethical,” “It is constituhe said. “The tional. It kind of government is goes against peooverstepping its ple’s freedom to bounds into the do whatever they want, but before business world.” it wa sn’t fa i r Baldwin said for people who businesses where smok ing was didn’t smoke.” commonplace The bill detailBert McMillan, a bartender at Players could be hurt by ing the smoking Retreat, on whether the smoking ban the new policy. ban said the Genlegislation makes sense “The governera l Assembly ment should have had found secondhand smoke to be a cause cancer, left it to the restaurants to decide how heart disease and asthma attacks, cit- they want to run their establishment. ing a 2006 report by the United States If smoking is good for business then Surgeon General “that the scientific it should have been fine.” evidence indicates that there is no riskBert McMillan, a bartender at Playfree level of exposure to secondhand ers Retreat, said the legislation seems smoke.” constitutional. According to the document, it is “It makes sense in a public place,” the intent of the General Assembly to he said. “Non-smokers have a right protect the health of individuals in to expect a smoke-free environment.” public places. “We are experiencing [decline] Cory Slep, a freshman in nuclear and expecting further decline, but it engineering, said there is no real evi- should get better in a month or two,”
“Non-smokers have a right to expect a smoke-free environment.”
Alumnus’ family aims to bring fair trade shopping to Hillsborough
BY MEREDITH FAGGART
What is your reaction to the smoking ban which prohibits smoking in restaurants and bars?
“I like the ban because I don’t like the smell of smoke.” Kayla Fleetwood junior, animal science
“I don’t really have a problem with it. I’m not a smoker, but I bet it makes more of the customers in restaurants in bars happy.” Joseph Winker freshman, professional golf management
McMillan said. According to McMillan, bars in other states experienced an initial decline but recovered for two reasons: smokers eventually got tired of staying at home and non-smokers became more attracted to bars due to the new policy. “Most states have seen an overall increase after a certain amount of time,” McMillan said. “It’s better in the long run.”
WHERE CAN YOU STILL SMOKE? • • • •
A designated smoking guest room in a lodging establishment A cigar bar if smoke from the cigar bar does not migrate into an area where smoking is prohibited Properties maintained by members of the tobacco industry A private club SOURCE: HOUSE BILL 2 / S.L. 2009-27
Registrar: Class schedule issues have solutions Waitlists, advisers can help students looking to perfect their schedules
Sugar Magnolia opens despite construction, plans to weather economic storm, renovations Ty Johnson Editor-in-Chief
The area between Sylvia’s Pizza and North Residence Hall on Hillsborough Street is a haphazard collection of barricades and mesh fencing, but beyond the construction scars, a new business has taken up residence in the building shared by Planet Smoothie and Bruegger’s Bagels. Sugar Magnolia, a $15 or less fair trade store, opened late last week, and though the timing of the new venture could be questioned by some, John Cooper Elias, an alumnus who oversees the Raleigh location of the family-owned business, said the risk is a calculated one. “This is one of the prime spots in one of the nicest buildings,” Elias said. “We had the opportunity right now to get this space and we decided we were better off going ahead starting out now and weathering the storm of the construction because it was going to be worth it in the long run to have this space.” But what’s most interesting about Hillsborough Street’s newest business may not be its location, since all of the merchandise in the store is personally selected by Elias’ family, which runs five stores similar to Sugar Magnolia in cities ranging from Ann Arbor, Mich. to Nashville, Tenn. But beyond that, the selections don’t occur online or at a domestic trade show. The Elias family travels all over the world looking for the most interesting merchandise, visiting entrepreneurs in Ecuador, Peru, India, Indonesia, Nepal and other locations where the goods are produced. And while the family, through fair trade practices, makes return visits to certain producers, they’re never certain what they’ll bring back. “One of the things that’s so great about the store is we find new things
class through a waitlist Hunt said the success with the waitlist system in the fall was impressive. “Fall 2009 was the first year we implemented this type of waitlist system, and we have many more students usAlanna Howard ing the waitlist option this semester Deputy News Editor than in the fall so we are optimistic Each new semester presents the task about its success this semester,” he of getting the right classes. The spring said. semester adds the pressure of being According to Registration and the last semester Records, waitbefore g radulists empty on ation for most the fifth day of classes, or Jan. 15. seniors. This is also the According to last day to add a V i c e P r ovo s t course without and University instructor perRegistrar Louis Hunt, there are mission. areas where stuAmy Wilson, a said by dents have a little senior in business trouble getting administration, the classes they need. For those that said she got all the classes she needed. need a class to be eligible for gradua“The order in which we get to regtion there is plenty of time to panic, ister does help, and I think that’s why but taking action is the most impor- I got all the classes I need to graduate tant step. this semester,” she said. “There are several options for stuEmily Freeman, a junior in history dents having trouble meeting require- didn’t have the same results. ments. For example, we’ve had a few “I didn’t get into any history classes more students pushed into Distance this semester and I’m a history maEducation classes in order to help jor. I’ll be switching to a history minor them get what they need, but that’s but I still need history classes, which I not the only option,” he said. didn’t get into,” she said. The waitlist option available on For these kind of problems Hunt MyPack Portal allows students to recommends personally visiting one’s stay on a waitlist for five days. Dur- adviser or the department in charge of ing this time if they do not get into the class needed. the class, they should make other ar“Normally, on a case by case barangements. Although not everyone gets into a SCHEDULE continued page 3
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MEREDITH FAGGART/TECHNICIAN
Salma Salem, a sales associate a Sugar Magnolia on Hillsborough Street, prices the statues at the newly opened store. “I found out about the job on Craigslist,” Salem said.
all the time,” Elias said. “We don’t even know the direction our merchandise is going to go in.” But according to Carly Fulton, a freshman in business management, the colorful goods the shoppers see when they visit the store aren’t even half of the reason why after one visit she applied for a job at Sugar Magnolia. “With fair trade, everyone is work-
ing hard and the money is going where it’s supposed to,” she said. “People here benefit with beautiful products and people in countries where they’re not as lucky as us get paid for their work. I’ve worked for companies before where it seems like they get money for the wrong reasons.”
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