University considers smoke-free dorms

While IU students have the option of living on smoking floors in dorms, Purdue residence halls will become smoke-free this fall, making it one of seven Big Ten schools with a no-smoking policy for its campus residents. IU is entertaining a similar proposal, which could decide the fate of smoking in on-campus housing facilities.\nRobert Weith, director for Residential Operations, said there is a proposal for all of IU's residence halls to become smoke-free by 2003. \n"There are still students who would prefer a non-smoking environment who were not able to get one," Weith said.\nThe proposal would lead all University residences to join Forest Quad, which is non-smoking. The proposal will be discussed at a Feb. 21 meeting of the Residence Halls Association Presidents' Council.\nPurdue announced its decision in mid-January, and Lannie Wilson, Purdue's director of administrations for university residences, said the policy met "no material negative comment at all."\nThe decision was made to go smoke-free to meet the health interests of students and staff members such as resident assistants, she said. Wilson said in recent years the number of students identifying themselves as smokers on housing applications has decreased, so the need for smoking options in the residence halls has decreased overall.\n"There will be no smoking anywhere in the buildings," Wilson said. "No smoking means nowhere in the building or within 50 feet of it." \nMcNutt Quad is going smoke-free next fall. \nBut other campus residences, such as Collins Center and Teter Quad, will continue to allow smoking floors. Six of McNutt's 26 floors are smoking areas, and smoking must take place in individual rooms with the doors closed.\n"The decision for McNutt to become smoke-free was made by the community council, composed of student representatives," said Chuck Lepper, residence manager of McNutt. "This move was initiated by the students."\nLepper and Sara Ivey Lucas, residence manager of Collins, have been heading the proposal for smoke-free residence halls.\nLucas said she has held meetings with students in Collins discussing the possibility of making the center smoke-free.\n"We talked about it at the (Board of Governors), at Community Council, randomly we're talking to students in the dining halls and I think students responded pretty favorably to that," Lucas said. "Not always necessarily to the idea, but at least that we were asking."\nAlthough Lucas said it might be difficult to implement a non-smoking policy at Collins, there was enough interest among residents to continue discussions.\nMost often, Lucas said the complaints expressed by non-smoking residents concerned smoke that entered the building through doorways or room windows. \n"You know, people walk up to the ashtray, and finish their last few puffs right by the students' windows and then put their cigarette out," Lucas said. "So they're not really smoking on the floor."\nBut the entryway-smoke phenomenon is not unique to Collins, Weith said.\n"All of our buildings say the same thing," Weith said. "That's part of why part of the proposal is to move the smokers kind of away from the building, about 25 feet … Health aside, people are annoyed by the odor. Those are two different issues."\nWeith said students who live on smoking floors and smoke in their rooms sometimes stamp out cigarette butts on the carpet, adding to the financial incentive to stop smoking inside. \nWeith said despite the smoking habits of many students, he would like to see something come of the proposal.\n"I do know that Indiana smokes a lot as a state, and I do know there are some financial considerations in terms of what our values are," he said. "But I think that the proposal is good. We'll see how we do along the way"