Smoking Forbidden in EC, Ruggles, Hogan

By the beginning of summer 2008, smoking will be prohibited in all Columbia residence halls due to a new Housing and Dining policy.

In the past, students in Hogan, East Campus, and Ruggles were permitted to smoke within the confines of their rooms. However, in a rule that starts during the spring interim session, this will no longer be allowed. Instead, space will be allocated outside the buildings for students to smoke.

According to Scott Wright, director of housing and dining, the change comes after a re-polling of student opinion on the issue. “70 percent of students have voted consistently against the right to smoke in the residence halls over the last decade,” Wright said. “Students say that although veto power is granted to residents in all the suites, the students often feel uncomfortable exercising it.”

Veto power grants residents the right to ask suitemates to refrain from smoking in the living spaces, even if formal policy allows it.

“Although students were only allowed to smoke within their bedrooms, these boundaries were not always adhered to and the smoke often affected the other living spaces in the suite,” Wright added.

The smoking policy has evolved since smoking was first prohibited in first-year residence halls nine years ago. Recently, the residence hall smoking policy was seasonal—that is, students were allowed to smoke in certain residence halls over the fall and spring terms but not over the summer. But starting with the upcoming spring interim session, smoking will be banned in living spaces throughout the year.

A current undergraduate Resident adviser, who asked to remain unidentified because Student Affairs rules require RAs to receive permission to comment on policy, suggested that the new rule strikes the correct balance. “I personally will be unaffected by the new no-smoking policy, but I can see how it might adversely affect individuals who do currently smoke,” she said. “However, I believe that the majority of Columbia students are non-smokers—that is, that they do not regularly smoke and therefore will appreciate the new rule as it prevent the consequences of a small group’s actions from affecting the larger group’s well-being.”

monica.varman@columbiaspectator.com