In response to Mike Cools' Nov. 20 guest column "Tobacco's turn," I'd like to ask him what the rights of an individual are with regard to smoking. Certainly a person has the right to breath smoke-free air, but how far does this right extend? 100 feet? The bans on smoking in buildings and on the medical campus make lots of sense to me: smoke accumulates in buildings and it seems counterintuitive to have medical patients and staff breathing carcinogenic vapors. The fact, however, is that some students and (if you can believe it) employees of this university smoke cigarettes. I myself have been known to indulge occasionally. Although I have seen students, maintenance workers, cleaning staff and professors smoking on campus, I don't see this as a threat to nonsmokers' health. Just take a look around on campus. Smokers are a small minority: There are no crowds of smooth-puffing freshmen at the East Campus bus stop, no clouds of smoke hanging over the entrance to Bostock. Does Cools honestly believe that standing outside within 100 feet of a smoker is a serious risk to him? Why does he want to take away a student or employee's right to sit on a bench and have a cigarette? Will there be a security guard in each are of campus with a tape measure, writing tickets as he measures perimeters?
The statistics that Cools mentions about the lethality of second hand smoke are well-known (at least at Duke), yet some students still choose to smoke. That's the real issue here, choice. I'm sure that Cools knows what is best for me, but I'd still like the option to choose. The University could certainly take Cools' advice and institute prohibition so that we no longer "lag behind" other schools, but I would rather that we choose freedom over oppression and think for ourselves about this topic.
Chip Franzén
Trinity '09
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.