Stop Smoking Way

Kris Jackson, a sophomore anthropology major at West Chester University, understands the reasoning behind the new smoking ban at his school. It’s the scope that he thinks too drastic.

“Asking people to smoke in designated areas is not that much to ask,” said Jackson, 19, as he puffed on a cigarette yesterday. “Asking people to stop is a lot to ask.”

A sweeping ban on smoking instituted last week at West Chester and all other state-owned universities has produced more confusion than clarity so far.

The ban goes further than the new Pennsylvania Clean Indoor Air Act, which prohibits smoking inside most public buildings and workplaces.

“Nobody really knows what the rules are,” said Jordan Gromek, 21, of Prospect Park, a senior at West Chester University. “It’s ridiculous.”

John Cavanaugh, chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, said he believed that because the 14 state-owned schools, including West Chester and Cheyney, hold outdoor activities and classes, smoking should be forbidden on all campus grounds, including parking lots and athletic fields.

Barbara Randall, who works in food service at the Sykes Student Union Building, said she feared that her five-minute smoking break would allow too little time to walk several blocks to get off campus and light up.

“We should have a designated area,” she said.

Gromek, who is majoring in social work, also thought that she needed to trek to an off-campus location if she wanted to smoke.

Her friend Dominique DuBois, 24, of Minneapolis, had different information. The campus streets and sidewalks are owned by the Borough of West Chester and therefore not part of the ban, she said.

“A professor told me that today,” DuBois said.

Kenn Marshall, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, said the boundaries might be a smoky gray.

“The ban only applies to university property,” he said. But the issue could be complicated by easements and other legal technicalities, he said.

“What if the campus owns the sidewalk, but the borough has an easement?” he asked. “We’re going to have to decide some of these issues on a case-by-case basis.”

Stephen Hicks, president of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, said he believed that the ban did not extend to West Chester’s streets and sidewalks, but he said getting clear answers had been difficult.

Like many students and staff members interviewed, Hicks, who was visiting the West Chester campus yesterday, said questions also abounded concerning enforcement. Several people on campus said they had heard of students’ being fined up to $450, but no one seemed to know who had received a fine or who had imposed it.

“We’re still waiting for some clarifications,” said Cliff Johnston, who heads West Chester’s faculty union.

Marshall said the clean-air law provides for fines and gives the authority to impose them to local health departments. Details about enforcement are still being worked out and will require meetings with health departments and university officials, he said.

“University officials or police officers will approach the person, let them know about the ban, and provide them with materials on the hazards of smoking,” he said.

At some point, the response may shift from slapping violators with brochures on healthy living to hefty fines.

Sean Patterson, 18, a freshman from New Oxford majoring in physical education, is too thrilled about the ban to care about any confusion.

“I hated coming out of buildings and walking into a big cloud of smoke,” he said. “I hate the smell, too.”

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Tags: Pennsylvania smoking ban, Smoking, Smoking rules