Social smoking endures

It didn't always take sophomore Christine Norris an hour to smoke a cigarette.

But now that the campus smoking ban has corralled smokers into the center of Polk Place, she ends up staying to talk to fellow smokers.

It's now a social experience"" Norris said.

Beneath the American flag, engulfed in clouds of cigarette smoke, the group has fashioned a community of sorts.

It's become its own cultural center"" said junior Joy Jennings, a regular in the smoking circle. It's a celebration of one of the last vestiges of our civil liberties.""

Enforcement of the smoking ban 100 feet from buildings has become stricter since the policy's implementation in January. A new policy threatens fines of up to $146 to violators.

On a cloudy Wednesday afternoon" several small groups of smokers intermingled around large clay bowls full of ash and extinguished butts sharing stories of weekend parties literature" music and art.

""I've met some of the most free thinking" heady intellectuals in this spot Jennings said. Everyone has an open mind" and you don't have to be a smoker to enjoy it. It's the new Pit.""

But the smoking circle is a smaller community" more intimate than the Pit. A group of hurried teaching assistants prepared lesson plans as friends greeted each other and bonded with new visitors" passing lighters and cigarettes.

Nonsmoker Cameron Moeller followed his friends to join the scene.

""People are less shallow here" Moeller said. Smokers are more approachable" and I've met a lot of nice people here.""

American studies professor Timothy Marr" who teaches a course on tobacco culture" encourages his students to visit the smoking circle as a laboratory lesson to learn about the effects tobacco has on its users' lives.

""There's a social and behavioral aspect of nicotine addiction" Marr said. It becomes a form of sociality and community. The positive side is the community and conversation there but unfortunately" it has arisen out of an addiction.""

Third-year graduate student Elizabeth Schreiber said she has learned to live with the designated smoking area"" but doesn't appreciate being forced on display in the center of campus.

""You feel kind of like animals in a cage" she said. I'm glad to have a place to smoke" but you can't just go behind a building to escape from people anymore.""

With the high concentration of smokers by the flagpole comes a high concentration of secondhand smoke. Senior Robin Smith said the University could do more to designate additional campus smoking areas.

""There should be smoking gazebos around campus" in the quads where people can just gather around and chill" he said.

The University might never lift the ban or construct Smith's gazebos, but Jennings doesn't mind.

Lifting the ban wouldn't undo the community" she said. It's an interesting study of place" a great community of people and an open protest where people can freely express themselves.""

And light up" of course.



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