Until the mid-nineteen eighties smoking around the BCIT campus was normal. The clean air policy was implemented, to some controversy, in September of 1986 and then delayed until the new year to allow staff and students time to get used to the idea or to quit smoking.

In the beginning smoking was fairly controlled at BCIT. The BCIT Student Information Brochure from 1964/65 included a section on smoking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the rainy months todays’ smokers, however, might have enjoyed being permitted to smoke in the hallways during class breaks. While by today’s standards the smoking policy was quite permissive some might find the section of student behaviour and dress very restrictive.

When the school first opened men were required to wear shirt and tie. I especially like the afterthought comments for the obviously not very well represented female students; “Women should be attired appropriately in accordance with the regulations for men. Slacks or shorts are not appropriate attire for women students.” (p. 15)

By the 1970s it appears that it was the norm to smoke (and eat) during lectures. That smoking and eating were prohibited in classrooms in the mid-1960s was a huge shock to students in 1978. A Link article from September 13, 1978 scoffs at the idea of not being able to smoke in the classroom. The writer even offers advice on constructing an astray from the foil liner of cigarette packages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Restrictions on smoking began to slowly creep in. In 1981 the pub created a non-smoking area.

The new Student Association Campus centre (SE16) opened in 1983 with a no smoking policy. A short quote from the article above demonstrates an open attitude toward the idea that smoking is not appropriate everywhere: “ I know that the campus centre was built for students, all students, however smoking is already permitted in most areas of the SAC (except for a small section in Growlies [the pub])…so if students do get the urge to ‘light up’ it is only a short distance to the nearest smoking area.”

BCIT’s Clean Air Policy was jump-started in January of 1985 after a petition from 30 staff members requested their office area be designated non-smoking. Shortly after their request, Dr. Barbara Copping, BCIT Medical Services Director asked the Health and Safety Committee to initiate an Institute smoking policy. After a year of gathering health and legal information the BCIT Smoking Policy Committee met. The committee consisted of smokers, nonsmokers, ex-smokers, students, teaching and support staff, managers and Health and Safety Committee members. The BCIT Smoking Policy Committee conducted a survey of staff and students to gauge attitudes towards smoking in shared spaces at BCIT. The results showed students (78%) and staff (90%) in favour of a formal policy restricting smoking at BCIT. The list of shared spaces that the majority of students thought should have no restrictions on smoking or designated areas included: entrances/foyers, student lounges, the cafeteria, the pub, and recreational areas. Of staff respondents over half thought it reasonable to have no restrictions or designated smoking and non-smoking area of staff lounges, cafeterias, and the staff dining room (staff were not surveyed about the pub).

The Clean Air Policy was implemented January 1, 1987. It has since been revised several times. If you are interested in the current smoking policy at BCIT you can find it here BCIT Policy no. 7501.

Despite the tantalizing cover, actual dirt, mould and rust were the dirtiest elements of this calendar. Although honestly the last page is rather frightening, more on that later. As I indicated in my previous post about the 1984 time capsule, there were a few items found not in the official time capsule, but nestled beside it. The items in the concrete cavity, beside the capsule, with only an unsealed plaque to block out the elements fared poorly. The above calendar was badly damaged after 30 years. Upon arrival at the Archives the calendar was damp, mouldy, warped, water and rust stained and many of the pages were stuck together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the calendar was in the BCIT Archives I put clean paper between the damp pages where I could and left it to dry in an archival box and folder for several weeks. Before the Christmas holidays, once I was sure the calendar was completely dry, I took the time to clean it. I was very careful as this is the only known copy. Because of the mould (now dry and relatively harmless) I wore a mask and handled the calendar wearing gloves. To clean I used chem sponges to clean the worst of the stains and a gentle Japanese brush to carefully remove dirt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once I carefully peeled back the pages and removed the rusty staples I got to see the photographs inside. The ladies kept it classy. The style was professional head-shot with name and chosen area of study rather than pin-up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the joys of being an Archivist in a small Archives is getting to do many different tasks. From reference services and arranging and describing the holdings to conservation and preservation work. I had a great deal of fun cleaning these pages for long term storage in the Archives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I mentioned that there was one image that was not so fun to clean. The ladies of BCIT kept it classy, not it would seem, the masked men of the 1985 survey class.*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed this conservation post from the BCIT Archives! Ending on a classy note. Here is one more beautiful woman of BCIT and the back cover of the calendar which reads: A tribute to the beautiful [and intelligent] women at BCIT!

Unveiling the 1984 Time Capsule was part of BCIT’s 50th Anniversary celebrations, for upcoming events see the BCIT 50 Years website.

*Update! May 25, 2015: Through the attention this post has generated I learned the context of this addition to the calendar. The naked photograph of the survey class was in retaliation for a certain advertisement placed (by the Engineering students) in the December 5, 1984 issue of the Link Volume 19, Number 14. Someone in the print shop was friends with a Survey student. Unbeknownst to the Engineers and the women featured in the calendar, survey students were given access to a box of around 100 printed calendars to which they glued their unauthorized addition. Everyone involved in producing the calendar was quite offended. Pranks between the Engineering and Survey students may have ended with this escalation.