The College is moving ahead with previously reported plans to ban smoking in the new East Wheelock building and the Ripley/Woodward/Smith cluster starting this fall, according to Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman.
These residence halls were chosen because the East Wheelock dorm, recently named McCulloch Hall, will be brand new and renovations in Rip/Wood/Smith are scheduled for this summer, Redman said.
Currently, Butterfield Hall is the only designated non-smoking residence hall, although it is labeled as substance-free housing, a ban that also includes alcohol. Under the new plan, Butterfield will continue to function as it has in the past. The new smoke-free dorms will permit alcohol but ban cigarette use.
"[Smoke-free dorms] are a real departure from what we've done in the past at Dartmouth," Redman said.
According to Redman, the plan had been discussed for a number of years prior to his arrival this past summer, and the campaign for more smoke-free dorms may only be unfolding.
"I'd like to make more smoke-free dorms because of health and safety related issues," he said. "It's a wise choice to make, but change is difficult and we need to be cautious and see how this goes before going in a further direction."
Redman said his own preference is to pay attention to the health risks of second-hand smoke and to maximize protection of students.
According to Redman, smoking in dormitory rooms at other colleges varies from being entirely banned to being confined to a percentage of buildings.
Harvard University recently expanded its smoking ban in freshman halls to all dormitories, and Amherst College this month banned smoking in three dorms because of student pressure. Princeton University does not prohibit smoking in regular dormitories.
"Some have banned smoking and others have gone the route we're moving in to get an understanding of the percentage of smokers and then create options for both that don't impact each other," Redman said.
A consequence of implementing a widespread ban of smoking in rooms is that some people might choose not to live in the residence halls because they could only smoke outside, Redman said. Rather, he said this plan will provide more reasonable options for everyone.
College policies already prohibit smoking in dorm lounges because they are public spaces, but the question of smoking within rooms, while permitted with the consent of the occupants, becomes more complex.
"Students get defensive when [a regulation] intrudes upon what they do in the privacy of their room, so it's trying to walk the fine line of health risks associated with smoking and individual rights to smoke," Redman said.
While most students The Dartmouth telephoned last night tended to approve of the proposal, Redman said its planning remains complex. With limited dorm space, the uncertainty of the D-Plan and the residual odor of smoke, sometimes students sensitive to smoke must be placed in a room recently vacated by a heavy smoker.
"It takes a long time for tar to air out. We do our best to clean the rooms, but short of a new carpet and a new paint job, it's difficult to get all of it removed," Redman said.
Student reaction
"As long as I can smoke in my room, I don't care," Farah Lamarre '00 said of the new smoke-free dorm announcement.
"I think there should be non-smoking dorms, but it's not that big of an issue," Naomi Stone '03 said. "As long as roommates can reach a consensus, that's all that's important, but they should stick smokers together."
Stone said a mix-up occurred in her Richardson room because she is roommates with a chain smoker, which can create a problem.
Sean Kelley '02, a non-smoker, said he finds the idea of smoke-free residence halls appealing. "I'm not a big fan of smoking myself. I don't like the smell and it's nice to have an environment where smoking is not anywhere."
"I don't think [non-smoking dorms] are a good or bad idea, but I'm sure a non-smoker doesn't want to smell me smoking cigarettes," Lamarre said.
Kelley said last year he had neighbors who smoked in their rooms, and while the situation "wasn't too bad, it wasn't great either."
Kelley also said he dislikes people smoking around the entrances and steps outside of dorms where people walk in and out and are subject to wafting fumes.
Impact for '04s
For the first time, incoming students will have an option to select a preference of living in a non-smoking residence hall. Redman said, however, he expects not all the requests will be able to be fulfilled so soon after the implementation of non-smoking dorms.
While the question has never been asked of incoming freshman, Redman expects about 50 percent of the class to mark the option, a demand that cannot yet be met.
The percentage of freshman in the new East Wheelock building and the Rip Wood Smith cluster, 40 percent and 25 percent respectively, will probably not change to reflect the demand for the incoming class, Redman said.
While the Office of Residential Life is currently figuring out how to better deal with the anticipated demand, one option is to concentrate a group of first-year students in a hallway, thereby making at least half of the hall smoke-free, which Redman said is a little better than having a smoker living next door.
Redman pointed out that the status of pets is a comparable situation to the community effects smoking. "We have no philosophical objection to pets, but people are allergic and to have them roam around in the building causes a health risk," Redman said. "It's difficult to get the dander out short of literally ripping the room apart."
Smoking, like animals, is a health-related risk, and the new plan seeks to establish a good balance to protect health yet maintain smoking opportunities, Redman said.
