Mark D. White

Mark D. White

Wow. The New York Times reported yesterday that the board of trustees of the City University of New York (CUNY) voted to ban smoking on all 23 of its campuses. The article notes that the ban won't mean much for the urban campuses, since the university cannot ban smoking on the public streets in between college buildings, but on the more traditional campuses–like at the College of Staten Island (CSI), where I teach–it will prohibit smoking in all outdoor areas between the buildings.

Just considering CSI, this will be huge. By my casual estimates, a significant percentage–I would say at least half–of the students at my school smoke. Preventing them from smoking between classes (and during breaks in classes, official or "otherwise") will definitely have unintended (if not unanticipated) consequences. Most obviously, less students will stay on campus between classes when there are significant gaps in their schedule, implying less attendance at extracurricular events, talks, and so forth.

Perhaps less obviously, many students will seek sanctuary in their cars to grab a smoke between classes (assuming either that this is allowed, or that it will not be well enforced if the ban extends there). This could also drive (pun intended) more students to travel to school by car rather than bus, stretching parking resources on campus (and countering any environmentally- or safety-minded initiative to cut down on automobile traffic).