Entirely smoke-free residence halls will not become a campus-wide College policy anytime in the near future, according to officials in the Office of Residential Life.
Bud Beatty, associate dean of residential life, wrote in an e-mail message that ORL will not begin serious discussion about the smoking issue unless there appears to be sufficient student demand for it.
"Rumors about smoke-free residences have been floating out there for years," Beatty wrote.
The current College policy prohibits smoking in "common areas" -- such as hallways, bathrooms, laundry rooms and study rooms -- but allows students to smoke in their own rooms if the other people in the room consent.
But Lynn Rosenblum, director of housing services, said a "change in policy" beginning last Fall term has made the current smoking regulation more stringent than ever before.
Rosenblum said the policy was amended last year, and the 1995-96 Student Handbook states a smoker "must cease [smoking] immediately and permanently," if any resident living in the same dormitory makes a complaint.
Smoker Jay Park '98 said the new regulation reveals the "trend that's been happening everywhere of coming down on smokers."
Park, who lives in a fraternity house this summer, said he will "never go back to the dorms" if rumors about a smoke-free policy materialize into active regulation in the near future.
"It's an infringement upon the rights of smokers," Park said.
Other Ivy League schools have yet to institute smoke-free policies in campus housing.
Harvard University housing officer Sue Kane said Harvard has no regulations governing smoking in dorms and houses, but they are "trying to put something in the handbook."
Kane said Harvard students determine the smoke-free status of their dormitories. Each residential house "does its own thing," and some have chosen to be smoke-free. She said students must smoke outside of these buildings.
Margaret Dwyer, who oversees housing and dining at Cornell University, said several on-campus dormitories are smoke-free, and others permit smoking "with the permission of the roommate."
Assistant Director of Residential Life at Princeton University Joseph Plaska said Princeton follows a policy similar to Dartmouth's -- students cannot smoke in public areas, but there are no smoke-free dorms.
Director of Health Services Jack Turco said the large number of asthmatics on campus has magnified the issue.
"Any irritants, smoke being a major one, can increase problems with coughing and asthma," he said. "Annoyance factors are involved."
Rosenblum said the Fall-term housing applications indicate "there were more students who identified themselves with allergies to smoke than smokers," she said. Only 40 of the 1,717 applicants identified themselves as smokers.
Despite this apparently small number of smokers at the College, Turco said, "Studies show that the incidence of smoking [at Dartmouth] have gone up significantly in the last ten years."
Smoke-free dorms might help reduce the trend, he said.
Turco said if a student is living with a smoker for only "six months or a year," it is inconclusive whether or not there are long-term health risks related to second-hand smoke.
