The USG discussed endorsing an Undergraduate Life Committee resolution to ban smoking in all residential areas during its Sunday meeting.
Despite concerns of negative student responses, Undergraduate Life Committee Chair Juan Lessing '05 attempted to garner support for the resolution.
"Cigarette fires cause 30 percent of all fire deaths," Lessing said. "They are the number-one cause of death by fire."
Lessing said President Tilghman, the Environmental Safety and Risk Management Committee, Undergraduate Housing, Public Safety, Council of Masters and a large number of student groups have expressed their strong support.
"Several other universities already have policies like this," Lessing said. "Brown, Cornell, Harvard and Yale do not allow smoking in dorm rooms whatsoever."
According to Lessing, the Undergraduate Life Committee (ULC) — a broad University body which incorporates students, administrators, faculty and staff — will vote on the resolution on Dec. 9.
If approved by the ULC, the resolution would then reach administrators with oversight, interest and responsibility over housing policy, Lessing said.
Though a vote was not taken, the USG remains split over endorsing the ULC's resolution.
Some USG members said they are not sure whether a majority of undergraduates would approve it.
"The amount of people that are going to be really angry at [a ban on residential smoking] is much larger than the amount of people who smoke," U-Councilor Sandy Gibson '06 said, adding that students may argue they have the right to smoke in the privacy of their own rooms.
Other members of the USG believe that they should primarily keep undergraduates informed that such resolutions are under consideration.
"What we want to do is mostly raise awareness," U-Councilor Becky Brown '06 said.
The USG postponed the vote on the resolution until next week to give students to express their viewpoints at the Student Government Office in Frist 204.
Lessing said he was optimistic about eventual passage of the resolution. "I know there's gonna be some people that don't approve of [the resolution], but I think the majority of people will be for it," he said.
The meeting also covered questions of student group funding and campus race concerns.
The USG voted to no longer fund group projects of "extended duration." To receive funding, groups must apply for specific events.
"Organizations will no longer get [semester-long] funding without a detailed event schedule for the semester," Projects Board Co-Chair Jen Albinson '05 said.
Chris Willis '07, Survey on Race Committee Co-Chairman, informed the USG that his committee will release the results of a new survey in December or early January.
The survey, conducted last semester, assesses student impressions on perceived self-segregation and racial bias of student groups.
Willis said the survey had great potential to solve racial problems at the University.
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