TOBACCO PURGE BEGINS(April Fools!)

Matt Whalen
Editor-in-Chief

Hudson Valley recently approved the 24-hour Tobacco-Purge for students on Apr. 1.

On Apr. 6, Hudson Valley students will be able to smoke anywhere on campus for 24 hours without any repercussions.

“We felt that students should be able to have one day where they can smoke freely anywhere on campus,” said Bill Marlboro, tobacco program administrator.

The school will have a table in the Campus Center where students will be able to buy tobacco products for the purge.

“I feel this is an excellent idea,” said Shante Camel, individual studies student. “Being able to purchase tobacco at the school will be useful in case I run out and need some more.”

Students will be able to smoke anywhere on campus, including bathrooms, classrooms and offices.

Tobacco sales in the Campus Center will begin Wednesday morning at 7 a.m. and will end 24 hours after.

“We want to give students full access to purchase tobacco on campus if they feel the need to purge,” said Marlboro.

Students may bring their own tobacco products on campus and exchange them with other students and faculty.
“Having this purge really helps us students who smoke all day. Now, we have a day where we don’t have to hide or wait till we leave,” said Jim Newport, longtime smoker.

Along with regular tobacco products, students will have an option of buying eco-friendly cigarettes that will help keep the campus going green.

“Giving this option of eco-friendly cigarettes will be good for the school because these will only affect the smoker and not affect the campus or the planet,” said Marlboro.

Supporters of the tobacco purge believe that this will bring more students on campus that don’t normally show up for class.

“This will bring an increase in student attendance and possibly make students more attentive in class,” said Professor Paul Mall.

The money that will be made from the tobacco sales in the Campus Center will be saved for next year’s tobacco purge to get more vendors and create a better purge.

Once the purge is over, the school has hired Lee Winston, part of Winston Clean Inc. to go around campus and clean up all the tobacco leftovers. His job is to get the campus ready to go back to being a tobacco-free campus.

Depending on the success of this year’s tobacco-purge, SUNY stated that they would be open to declaring Apr. 6 National College Tobacco-Purge Day.