The Communique

Issue date: 8/20/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Alisse Diers Kirkwood student Devin Louden, photography major, takes a break to smoke a cigarette.

Media Credit: KSP News

New policies have been enforced at Kirkwood Community College just within the last few weeks that could have campus smokers scouting for new locations.

At Kirkwood smoking has been limited to 25 percent of the buildings' entrances and most of these are located at the less populated back doors.

The rule used to be that smokers could light up anywhere on campus as long as it wasn't inside the buildings. Now smokers cannot be on the sidewalks with lit cigarettes.

Tom Kaldenberg, executive director of facilities, said he hopes that in the future this policy will help benefit all students. "We've had incidents before where students with asthma have had problems with passing by groups of smokers. Smoking is a choice but it shouldn't have to affect those who choose not to smoke," he said.

Betty Whitson, lab instructor and smoker, said that she doesn't see anything wrong with the restrictions. "There are enough smoking areas for it to be sufficient," she said.

The state has started restricting public smoking and tobacco use. Thirty years ago smoking was permitted inside campus buildings. Now that right is limited to the parking lots and sighted smoking posts located around the campus. Kaldenberg predicted that in as little as five years from now, a lot of campuses all over the U.S. will be tobacco free.

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