Outdoor bans loom at colleges
Jump to full article: New York Post, 2009-11-01
Author: ANNIE KARNI
Intro: Officials at Columbia and NYU are considering Draconian new rules that will effectively kick smokers' butts right off campus -- even if they light up outdoors.
Columbia is mulling a total ban on smoking at the 32-acre Morningside Heights campus, while NYU brass hopes to stop smoking anywhere within 15 feet of a school building or air vent.
At Columbia, the idea of a total prohibition has smokers fuming.
"I understand that it's not healthy, but as a stressed- out, underpaid Ph.D. student, I want to have a damn ciga rette in front of the library," snorted Daniel Maurice, 26, a Columbia music student who smokes half a pack a day. . . .
Incensed Ivy Leaguers recently staged a smoke-filled "hookah rally" on the steps of Columbia's Low Library to protest the proposal, which has gone to a newly formed panel that will gather feedback and report to the college in May.
Smokers snarled at the thought of huddling on a sidewalk outside the university's iron gates just to enjoy a timeless staple of college life -- the cram-session nicotine break.
"The entrance to campus will be a smoky gauntlet," said Ren Khodzhayev, 26, a junior who smokes a pack a day. "It's an open campus. Why create these barriers?"
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