Conversations have been sprouting around campus recently in regards to the possible removal of the smoking section in the HUB Snack Bar. Discussion began when an email was sent from President Wharton’s office and the HUB Advisory Board asking students to voice their opinions on the topic. So far responses are still pouring in, but the overall consensus from both students and faculty members is to remove said area from the Mountain View Snack Bar, in spite of its popularity among smokers.
Although the all-student/all-employee email was sent from the President’s Office, the original recommendation to close the smoking section was made by the HUB Advisory Board, a group of students and staff responsible for making many decisions involving the Hartman Union Building, after several complaints were made by snack bar customers who found the smoke irritating. After the recommendation was made, President Wharton then asked the Chemical Health Advisory Taskforce (CHAT) to seek campus feedback before any decisions were made.
“Over the years we’ve received a couple different complaints, a couple have been channeled to me through the president’s office,” said Terri Potter, Director of the Hartman Union Building and the HUB Advisory Board, “and quite often people feel appalled that they see a ‘No Smoking’ sign on the HUB but then go in the Snack Bar and there’s people smoking.”
According to Potter, the complaints were valid but many people may not realize that the current design of the smoking section fits all regulations like those smoking sections found in restaurants. According to New Hampshire Revised Statute Title XII, Chapter 155, Section 155:65, the Indoor Smoking Act explains that, any indoor smoking section measuring a minimum of two hundred square feet must have a continuous wall or partition at least fifty-six inches high separating smoking and nonsmoking areas or there must be a space of at least four feet in width to separate the two areas. In buildings equipped with ventilation systems the smoking section must be placed proximate to exhaust vents. These requirements, along with the state definition of a restaurant as an area open regular hours with the primary intent of serving customers, legally allows smoking in the building, but does not purge the disappointments of other customers.
After the HUB Advisory Board made their recommendation to the president, he approached CHAT to poll the students and find out what the campus opinion was and how important the smoking section is to people. “CHAT was asked to survey the PSC campus and determine the prevailing wishes of students, faculty, and staff in regard to smoking in the HUB Snack Bar area,” said Nancy Dyer, a Health educator at the Counseling Center and in charge of CHAT. “This information will be presented to President Wharton with additional data about how the use of the HUB Snack Bar may or may not be affected by smokers and nonsmokers.”
According to Dyer, nearly three hundred people have responded to the email sent to students and faculty members. Students are returning emails, both positive and negative, and right now about half are in favor of keeping the smoking section while the other half is interested in having it removed. The faculty, however, have been dominantly in favor of removing the smoking section—by eighty-five percent. “This difference in opinion between students and faculty/staff is not surprising since the trend toward increasing tobacco use among 18 to 24-year-olds continues to rise while smoking among all other age groups is on the decline,” said Dyer.
Some speculation has risen about the email, with people claiming respondents may or may not be representative of the entire school. There is some belief that many of the people sending in the emails are smokers trying to keep the smoking section where it is, and that nonsmokers don’t have as much interest and do not respond as actively. However, the current results show that students are still undecided about the issue. “I’ve talked to a number of smokers who know that it’s an issue whose time has come and it’s not going to be part of the Hartman Union anymore,” says Potter. “I just want people to know that there is a forum for their opinions to be heard and in whatever decision CHAT makes, the HUB Advisory Board does support it going to a smoke free environment.”
No decisions have been made as of yet toward the removal of Snack Bar, but the president will review all the information from CHAT and find a solution. According to Dyer, “This is the first step in what will probably be a lengthy process of determining a fair institutional policy that takes into consideration the overall long term health status of the campus community, as well as the rights and well being of individual smokers.”