By Amelia Kibbe
Features Assignment Editor
Quite a few times I have walked into a building and said to my friends, “Well, someone was smoking in here.”
Students standing just inside or right outside a building puffing away has become an all-too-common sight around campus. However, these actions are in violation of both the school’s code of conduct and New York State’s fire safety laws. In order to promote the safety of all students on campus, students who chose to smoke should adhere to both the school and state rules.
Of course, most students at Bonaventure are of the legal smoking age. However, this does not mean they are exempt from following the rules. According to the New York State Department of Health, no smoking is allowed inside any university building, including residence halls. Also, the St. Bonaventure University Code of Conduct states that smoking is prohibited within 30 feet of any university building. This means that students can’t stand outside on the steps and smoke. Despite these guidelines, most students have seen this more than once.
The laws and rules about smoking exist to protect both the smoker and the non-smoker.
To begin with, smoking cigarettes and not disposing of them properly can lead to fires. All it would take would be one cigarette to ignite a fire that could burn down a whole building and possibly take the lives of people inside. This puts all the individuals in the building at risk. It would also cost the university hundreds of thousands of dollars. While there is a slim chance of fire, the reckless behavior of one individual could quickly turn disastrous for the whole university.
Secondly, it is a well-known fact that smoking is not just harmful to the health of the smoker. According to the American Cancer Society website, secondhand smoke can be just as dangerous to the non-smoker as smoking is to the smoker. When non-smokers are exposed to cigarette smoke, they breathe in the same chemicals as the smoker.
Freshman marketing major LaurieAnne Wickens said she has had many experiences of walking through a cloud of smoke because a smoker is standing too close to the door.
“I have pretty severe asthma,” Wickens said. “I’ve actually had asthma attacks from being around secondhand smoke. When people hold the door open for you while smoking a cigarette, you have no choice but to walk through the cloud of smoke, and that’s dangerous for everyone.”
As children, students are taught the harms of smoking. For decades, it has been commonly recognized that smoking is detrimental to health. However, secondhand smoke is a newer concept and one often neglected.
“Everyone knows that smoking is dangerous to the smokers,” Wickens said. “But oftentimes people forget about the secondhand effects, and that needs to be addressed. Even just following the regulations the school has put in place will make a difference.”
Everyone knows the winter this year seems never-ending, so of course smokers do not want to stand outside for the time it takes to smoke. This is understandable, but it is still against the law and disrespectful to non-smokers.
One move that would help fix this problem would be to move ashtrays away from right outside the buildings. Having them stationed less than 10 feet from the door is almost asking a smoker to smoke by the building.
Smokers have made the decision to smoke, so they must follow the rules. And now that spring might finally be here, there is no excuse not to take a few extra steps before lighting up a cigarette.
Amelia Kibbe is the features assignment editor for The Bona Venture. Her email is kibbeaa13@bonaventure.edu.
