It’s a tug of war.Smokers want to smoke where they please, and non-smokers want fresh air. So far, no one is winning. In an effort to respect both smokers’ rights to light up and non-smokers’ rights to breathe easy, Ball State has declared smoke-free areas on campus. Now, no smoking of any kind is allowed within 30 feet of doorways, windows that open and air intakes, according to the Student Code of Rights and Responsibilities.“It doesn’t matter to me because usually I don’t smoke that close anyway,” freshman Dustin Agler said.Other students who lived with the freedom to smoke wherever they pleased for years are not adjusting to the new policy as smoothly.“After four years of smoking next to the door, it doesn’t phase me. If it’s raining, I’m not moving 40 feet,” senior Laura Toth said, To help smokers determine how far 30 feet is, many buildings have signs showing where they can stand. However, smokers have trouble figuring out where they may light up because some of the signs have been moved by irritated students. Other buildings do not have signs, and smokers have to estimate the distance. Further complicating the new policy is the lack of places to sit while enjoying a cigarette and then put it out.“I don’t think the ashtray is 30 feet from the door. It’s defeating the purpose,” Toth said while smoking outside the Art and Journalism building. “You can’t have ashtrays or ledges next to doors and tell people they can’t smoke there,” So many people smoke today that many students have learned to simply ignore it - especially when family members or friends smoke.“It wasn’t that much of an issue for me because my family smokes, but it is nicer now that there are not people smoking here,” senior Sonja McCarrel said.There are other students who are strongly in favor of the new policy.“They are killing us with their smoke,” freshman Joshua Brown said. “How about the people trying to walk down the sidewalk to class bombarded by it?”Morgan County, where freshman Katie Tutterrow is from, recently became a smoke-free county, so she is used to a smoke-free environment. She said she believes the new policy will work.“I hate smoke and smoking, so this is a good idea. I don’t want to die from cancer when I don’t smoke,” Tutterrow said. “They just have to crack down on everyone. Once you implement a plan like that, I don’t think you can back off.”According to the Code of Rights and Responsibilities, building managers may fine smokers up to $1000 to enforce the rule.“I think that’s ridiculous,” Toth said. “If someone wrote me a ticket, I wouldn’t pay.” Not every smoker will have to face such a steep fine, Alan Hargrave, Director of Housing and Residence Life, said.“I certainly hope we never have to fine anyone $1000. We want to treat them like adults,” he said. “Now if someone is just belligerent about it, they will find themselves written up and dealt with from a disciplinary standpoint, but we hope it won’t come to that.”Cigarette butts still litter the ground in front of many doors around campus, especially outside LaFollette Complex in what students have nicknamed “The Smokers’ Courtyard.”“Until they see someone get fined for it, they won’t stop, but once they start getting fined for it, they will move away,” McCarrel said.As the winter approaches and smokers are huddling around buildings against the cold, they will test just how determined Ball State is to stick to the policy.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
