Last week Interhall announced it would soon conduct a survey regarding the smoking policy for campus residence halls. Interhall thinks that the current policy is outdated, and believes that there is a demand for smoke-free residences on campus. The current policy, which is very liberal toward smoking, goes farther than most other universities and should be revised. Students are currently allowed to smoke in all non-first-year dorms and apartment complexes. First-year students can sign up to live on smoking floors. Rather than creating smoke-free buildings, a better option would be a campus-wide ban on smoking in residence halls.
The strongest argument for allowing smoking in residence halls is that students should be allowed to smoke in their rooms if they like. Why infringe on students’ freedoms, especially regarding what they do in their own rooms?
Unfortunately, the design of most University buildings means that smoking in one’s room is hardly a private affair. Instead, it has a large impact on the whole community. The doors to most dorm rooms don’t seal very tightly. Smoke invariably drifts from one room to another, under and around doors. On any given floor, air circulates around the entire floor, bringing smoking students’ personal habits to all their fellow residents. The problem is the same in apartment complexes, particularly Henle-doors don’t seal tightly, so one resident’s smoking habit can often be smelled in all the surrounding apartments.
Smoking also causes damage to residence halls, from the yellowing of walls to burns in carpeting and other furniture. Cleaning crews must spend days scrubbing walls and floors to cleanse them of the smoke damage, and often burn damage remains unaddressed.
The University has tried to balance the needs of smokers and non-smokers by sequestering smoking students together on “smoking floors.” This only compounds the effects from the smoke in that area. And students who don’t request to live on smoking floors are occasionally assigned to live there anyhow.
The University’s smoking policy is outdated, and the Interhall review is a good opportunity to make changes. The policy needs to balance the needs of smokers with the needs of the community.
