The last haven for University of Tennessee smokers was officially closed two weeks ago. The news was released on the internal communication system for library faculty and staff, Share News. The bulletin said simply: “Effective today, the smoking rooms in Hodges Library are now non-smoking quiet study areas.”
The closure of the smoking rooms in the libraries is an effort by the entire university to push for a non-smoking environment for its students, faculty and staff. Other efforts of the university include adding additional cigarette butt containers away from buildings, placing nonsmoking entrance signs around campus and making all of the university buildings smoke-free.
The university has been pushing for smoke-free buildings for the past few years. The change in policy was almost instant from one year to the next. In the 2005-2006 Hilltopics, the official student handbook of UT, the policy on smoking is defined as, “[Allowable] only in designated smoking areas. University facilities will be designated non-smoking except for specifically designated areas which will be set aside as smoking areas … limited to … [areas] isolated from nonsmokers and separately ventilated, grounds, streets, and open-air facilities, and graduate and family housing.”
In this policy, the smoking areas in the libraries and on certain floors in residence halls meet the standard. The following year the policy changed to include inside any university building. The 2006-2007 Hilltopics policy on smoking is as follows: “Smoking is not permitted in the University-owned buildings. Select entrances to buildings are also smoke-free and are clearly marked.”
After the change in policy, the residence halls no longer had their smoking floors, and soon after the libraries lost their smoking rooms.
Layne Price, senior in accounting, finds the change in policy disappointing.
“As a smoker, I understand the concerns of making the building smoke-free,” Price said. “But I find it unlikely that a non-smoker will actually be studying in the old smoking rooms. I can hardly go in there myself because the area is so rich with smoke.”
Andrea Prince, a non-smoking junior in social work, believes making smokers go outside the building and to a point 20 feet away alienates them.
“Who is to say when and where smokers can smoke?” she said. “People can do whatever they want to their bodies, and I just do not think it is fair to make them go to such a measure just to smoke.”
Intan Saraswati, a non-smoking junior in accounting, thinks the new rules are great.
“I hate smoke, and I hate being around people who do smoke,” he said.
However, Saraswati does sympathize with the smokers because they lost their smoking rooms in the library.
“I feel the designated smoking rooms were acceptable because they are a contained area rather than in the open,” he said.
