As students make their way to class, some may not notice someone taking a cigarette break just outside the entrance of a building as crowds shuffle in and out of the doors through clouds of smoke.
In a generation where the adverse effects of secondhand smoke are taught at a young age, only a small number of students are concerned with the proximity of these smokers to the entrances of University buildings.
School of Arts and Sciences sophomore Matthew Weisser is allergic to smoke. He is against smoking entirely and thinks that smoking right outside an entrance to a building is just as bad as smoking inside a building, he said.
“Anyone who goes in and out of the building is walking right through the cloud of smoke. So if they were going to be irritated by it inside, they’re still irritated by it to get in or out of the building,” Weisser said.
While “No Smoking” signs on buildings let people know the University prohibits smoking inside any portion of its buildings, the policy the areas right outside buildings lacks visual definition.
But according to Section 60.1.10 of the University Policy Library, “… smoking and the placement of ash urn receptacles shall be prohibited in areas deemed to be main entrances to buildings owned and operated by the University.”
The University does place ash receptacles in courtyards of residence halls away from entrances to buildings, but students like Weisser sometimes see students smoking outside building entrances.
But some students like School of Arts and Sciences senior Lauren Patton do not think too much about the affects of secondhand smoke.
“It would be nice if [smokers] moved farther away [from entrances], but at the same time, I don’t stand out there waiting to go into class. If it’s bothering me, I take myself out of the situation,” Patton said.
The director of the Tobacco Dependence Program at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey’s School of Public Health Jonathan Foulds thinks this attitude exists because young people do not see any immediate effects of environmental tobacco smoke.
“Students are generally young, and the illnesses that they believe they can get from exposure to smoke are generally disease of old age. Most of them won’t really get heart attacks or lung cancer while they’re students,” Foulds said.
While there are students who smoke directly outside building entrances, some try to be as considerate as possible to those around them.
Bobby Tarentino, a smoker, said it is common sense to stay away from the door while smoking.
“I wouldn’t want to blow smoke in anybody’s face,” said Tarentino, a School of Arts and Sciences junior.
Ultimately, some students think that even if the policies on smoking by entrances were stricter, it would be impractical to enforce them.
“I think [the University] can require people to not smoke by entrances, but I don’t think they can enforce it. They have bigger concerns so it probably wouldn’t make much of a difference if they changed the rules or not,” said Shelby Greentaner, a School of Arts and Sciences first-year student.
Students voice concerns about smoker proximity
Published: Sunday, November 15, 2009
Updated: Sunday, November 15, 2009
1 comments