Dorm smoking ban a step over the line

5/29/06

It's clear that as far as our government is concerned, smoking isn't hip, but rather, a public nuisance to be monitored, controlled, and taxed.

While the Chicago Clean Air Act may have done good things for non-smoking restaurant goers, and anyone walking into public buildings, Blagojevich's new dorm smoking ban is one step over the line.

The difference? Although university housing facilities are state property, they are nonetheless, private residences. Residences paid for, typically to the tune of approximately $6,500 per year, deserve their tenants the basic rights of private buildings.

One of the reasons Blagojevich cited for the bill was the assurance that students living in dorms have the right to clean air too. This issue is not a particularly big deal, because nationwide, campus housing administrators have developed strict rules about campus smoking, attempting to minimize the annoyance of smoke to non-smokers.

At UIC, for example, any room where one of the residents of a given room or apartment is a non-smoker, that room is required to be non-smoking. If three people smoke, and one doesn't, smoking in the room could result in disciplinary action, according to the campus housing policy. In addition to that, every building on campus has at least one floor that is mandated to be non-smoking in every room. If there is anyone with a reaction so severe to smoke three rooms down, other options still remain.

Cigarette smoking doesn't cause fire alarms, against what many students sick of waking up at 3 a.m. for blazing sirens might think. The smoke is too thin to set off the alarm, which throws the argument that smoking in dorms is a public nuisance out the window.

The only issue that this ban addresses that holds any salt, is the reduction of fire risk. Response to fire alarms at UIC are dismal, simply because there are so many, people begin to ignore them. It's an extremely dangerous form of 'the boy who cried wolf.' For many years, the east side residence hall complex has been the number one responded to building in the City of Chicago. Number one. In the past four years, you can count the number of actual fires on one hand.
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Blagojevich Signs Dorm Smoking Ban

May 15, 2006

Also Applies To Fraternity, Sorority Houses

College students are banned from smoking in Illinois' dormitories under a measure Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed into law Monday.

The law took effect immediately and applies to private and public colleges statewide. Illinois joins several states in banning smoking in college dorms, Blagojevich's office said.

The measure also prohibits students from smoking in their fraternity or sorority houses if the universities own and operate those buildings.

It is aimed at decreasing fires in the facilities and reducing the health risks associated with secondhand smoke, lawmakers say. The bill's sponsor said separating smokers and nonsmokers is "not enough."

"It's important that all students have the opportunity to live in a healthy, smoke-free environment," Sen. John Cullerton, D-Chicago, said in a written statement.

Smoking is banned in hallways, laundry rooms, lobbies and other areas. Smokers still can light up in commercial areas in the buildings, such as restaurants or coffeehouses.

Critics argue that college administrators and boards of trustees should decide whether to ban smoking in living quarters.

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