all over the world cite that it’s a ‘personal choice’ to subject themselves to cigarettes. To them it’s about individual freedoms. But for me, it is not a choice,” he wrote. He also raised a point about how smoking aff ects non-smokers. “I have become what the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) calls a passive smoker,” he said. Ethan emphasized in his article how passive smokers are also predisposed to lethal diseases due to the secondhand smoke left in the air. Ethan also highlighted that, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDS), “there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke; even brief exposure can cause serious health problems.” Finally, Ethan raised the question: “Where are my individual rights?” Gage Miller is an exchange student from Louisiana, the U.S. He compared AUBG to his home university and said that students are not allowed to smoke cigarettes on campus. “You have to go off -campus, but you just have to go a foot off campus and you’ll be fi ne,” he said. He said that smoking on the AUBG campus is defi nitely much easier: “I defi nitely smoke a lot more here than I did in the U.S.” Dimitar Vitliyanov, a sophomore from Bulgaria, shared that he had informal conversations with the administration about smoking on campus. “I feel like banning smoking would be impossible. Th e administration is just thinking of the options of how to restrict smoking on campus,” he said. Dimitar pointed out that such a policy will be diffi cult to attain because Boryana Ivanova. Photo courtesy of Niko Kochalidze 11 Spring 2024 | AUBG Daily Bulgarians smoke a lot, and there is no structural support. “By that, I mean the state having specifi c programs and an interest to discourage smoking in general,” he said. Just like Rati, Dimitar is concerned about the fi nancial implications of the potential policies. “Th e administration will have to think about such things as ventilation if there are designated smoking areas,” he said. Such equipment costs a lot of money. Dimitar considers smoking a systemic issue. “Some people don’t understand how diffi cult it is to not smoke once you are addicted,” he said. Yet, Dimitar said that he understands why the conversations around smoking are taking place. “Th is is a change that is normal for Western universities, and being a model for a Western university in Bulgaria, it is only logical to pursue such policies,” he said. Another student, who decided to stay anonymous, shared that he noticed how trash cans were moved away from the ABF and BAC entrances last semester. But, back then, he did not really think much of it. At the beginning of this semester, he was smoking outside the ABF building with his friends. He said that they were standing two-to-three meters away from the entrance when suddenly a loud alarm went off . “I was terrifi ed,” he said. “I feel like the new president is trying to ban smoking as much as she can. She is trying to Americanize AUBG,” he said. “I don’t think she realizes where she is and how things work here,” he said, “People smoke so much here that it is a wonder how smoking is banned inside.” Can AUBG actually become a smoke-free university? Out of 50 randomly chosen respondents, 78% think that it simply cannot happen. Nothing is decided though. Th ere is still no set plan for AUBG’s transition to a smoke-free campus. Editors: Vasil Paskov and Niya Manditsch Ek a Iak ob ze ad
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