Spring Break
Forum airs views on smoking
College mulls proposed ban
Eric Shirk
Issue date: 4/15/05 Section: News
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The ban was suggested by the College Life Committee in a letter to NCC president Art Scott.
Donna Acerra, Communications professor and member of the College Life Committee, moderated the forum, the second in a series of three sessions to discuss the ban on smoking.
"We're seeking input from staff, faculty and students," Acerra said. "A final decision will not be made immediately."
Northampton is already a smoke-free institution, because smoking is not allowed inside or within 30 feet of any building, Acerra said.
According to the letter sent to Scott, one of the reasons this ban is being discussed is because the current policy does not work.
The College already has spent $7,000 to build three outdoor smoking huts and had to hire a part-time person just to clean up after smokers, Acerra said.
"Smoking is not a right; it is a privilege," said Northampton student and smoker Mark Benn.
"I am very enthusiastic for a ban on smoking on campus," Benn said. "We (smokers) violated our privilege as smokers by not following the rules. Security should be worried about the cars being broken into instead of trying to enforce the 30-feet rule."
Penn State's Lehigh Valley Campus will be smoke-free this fall, said Peggy Marinelli, a nurse in the College's health center. "The ban is a good idea and the wave of the future."
Student Senate Secretary Kristina Horyn read a statement saying that the Student Senate supports smoking being allowed only in the parking lots and recommends a $100 fine for the first offense of someone found smoking elsewhere.
Fines work, said second-year Communication Studies major Andrew Buhay, a former smoker. He said he was fined $109 for smoking while he a student at Saucon Valley High School.