Dartmouth smokers will soon be forced to stop lighting up in their dorm rooms as the College's last smoking residence halls -- Lord, Richardson, Wheeler and South Massachusetts -- will all become smoke-free by fall 2006, according to Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman.
The decision was primarily the result of public-health concerns and Dartmouth's small population of smokers relative to the large percentage of students who want smoke-free housing, Redman said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
Less than 10 students in the Class of 2008 claimed they were smokers in an ORL poll, Redman said. Twenty students in the Class of 2007 claimed to be smokers.
"I understand the various nuances concerning how one defines oneself as a smoker," Redman said referring to students who smoke only occasionally. "But at the worst case, 10 percent of students smoke."
Since the Office of Residential Life started asking the question of freshmen five years ago, approximately 80 percent of incoming students have said they prefer smoke-free environments.
Redman added that there are major concerns over second-hand smoke in Dartmouth's older dormitories.
"You could live on the floor above or below a smoker and still be affected by the smoke," Redman said.
ORL receives about a dozen complaints a term concerning smoke in halls where smoking is allowed, residential life officials said.
Redman pointed to the difficulty of placing people who do not want to be around smoke in smoke-free dorms in light of Dartmouth's persistent housing shortages and regular upheaval of living accommodations as a result of the Dartmouth Plan.
Over the last five years there have been progressively fewer and fewer halls where students can smoke in their rooms. Redman said smoke-free housing has progressed along with building renovations.
"After we pretty [a dorm] up, we make it a smoke-free building," Redman said.
The Student Assembly conducted a focus group last year during which students were allowed to discuss the issue. That group found there is significant demand for housing where smoking is allowed, according to Jesse Brush '06 of the Assembly's student life committee.
"I think that it is unfortunate," Brush said. "I think these students shouldn't be ignored."
Brush said he believes the conversion will have unintended consequences, and students will continue to smoke in dormitories. As a result, Brush argues the new policy would hurt those adamantly opposed to being around smoke because smokers would be left without a haven.
Redman, a smoker, said that students should be considerate to other residents and refrain from smoking in their dormitories.
"I don't smoke in the house. I don't smoke in the office," Redman said. "It's an addiction, and I'm working on it."
Redman added that only freshmen are forced to live in College residence halls, leaving upperclassmen the opportunity to smoke in their off-campus housing.
"If you really want to smoke and you aren't a first-year, you have the option of living off campus," Redman said.
The conversion to smoke-free housing won't entail any physical changes, Redman said, as smoke detectors should not detect cigarette smoke.
"Sometimes a group of guys getting together in one room playing poker and smoking cigars sets off the smoke detector," Redman said. "But that's a malfunction."
He added that Dartmouth will be the last Ivy League school to make all of its dormitories smoke-free.
