ODU takes more steps to limit outdoor smoking

Philip Walzer / The Virginian-Pilot

NORFOLK, Va. - Smokers, step back.

Twenty paces back.

Old Dominion University, which already bans smoking in classroom buildings and dorms, will soon restrict outdoor smoking as well. Starting next month, smoking will be prohibited within 20 feet of entrances to buildings.

In addition, people won't be able to smoke in outdoor athletic facilities, such as Foreman Field, or in enclosed courtyards.

"I think we need to provide a healthy environment for everyone in the academic community," said Dana D. Burnett, vice president for student services. "Secondhand smoke can be dangerous to your health and should not be forced on those who are nonsmokers."

Now, the entrances to buildings are sometimes clouded in haze from smokers who linger nearby, students said.

"It's almost like a catwalk that nonsmokers have to walk down to get to class," said Sarah Young, a junior from Virginia Beach, Va., who says she's an infrequent smoker. "Taking it away would be a positive thing."

Why 20 feet? Burnett said it comes from a recommendation by the American College Health Association.

That distance keeps smoke from doorways and windows, but "also respects the rights of those who smoke," said association official Michael McNeil, the health promotions coordinator at the State University of New York at Oswego.

Most colleges don't have such regulations, McNeil said, but more are following that path, prompted by health and legal concerns.

The 20-foot restriction was endorsed by ODU's Student Senate and Faculty Senate, where one of the biggest backers was a smoker.

"My position has been, I need all the help I can get," said William A. Drewry, a professor of civil and environmental engineering. "Don't let me smoke in the building; don't let me smoke in the athletic facilities. If I need to smoke, I can go outside and find a place."

Drewry estimates he ducks out of his building two to 10 times a day to smoke. He didn't worry about the inconvenience the new regulation would cause in bad weather. "I'll just take an umbrella with me and walk out 20 or 25 feet ... and light up a cigarette," Drewry said.

Donald Brown, a housekeeper who works in the library, is another campus smoker who doesn't object.

"If somebody says, `I don't like their smoke,' I can understand that," Brown said. "We can't complain. At least they're still giving us a chance to smoke."

But others have been less sanguine about the change. Phillip Newallo, president of the Student Senate, has heard condemnation from smokers and not much from nonsmokers.

"A lot of smokers haven't agreed with it," said Newallo, a nonsmoker who supports the restrictions. "They thought it as an infringement of their rights. Nonsmokers walk through it every day. If you're used to putting up with something, you're not going to make a fuss."

At ODU, ashtrays will be moved farther from buildings in the next month, Burnett said. The policy does not specify penalties, but says problems could end up at the office of the vice president for administration and finance.

A national study found that 28 percent of college students smoked regularly in 2000. Some students predicted that the ODU policy could help more cut down.

But Montree Thepvongsa, a former smoker who supports the policy, wasn't so sure.

"If you're a smoker, you're always going to find a place to smoke," said Thepvongsa, a senior from Fairfax, Va. "Even if it's 0 degrees, you're still going to go out and smoke."

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