The following article was originally published in Reporter on October 2, 1998.

RIT Snuffs Out Smoking in Campus Eateries

Take a look around the next time you’re enjoying a meal at an on-campus restaurant at RIT. As of August 31, 1998, the subtle divisions are gone; the wall of green planters has fallen. The new RIT dining area smoking policy has made all campus dining areas 100% smokefree. A new Monroe County law has created the most stringent smoking statutes ever, citing significant health risks attributable to tobacco smoke. This law states that all seating (except for that in specifically designed and isolated smoking rooms) must be smoke-free as of January 1, 1999. Because the beginning of the academic year is a more logical time for the administration to i nstitute new policies, RIT has chosen to comply early.

In the beginning of 1998, RIT's restaurants were forced to reduce smoking capacity to 15% of available seating. The push to implement this law on campus early came from the Food Service Business Administrator James Bingham. “The change went through very easily,” Bingham says. He states that a large number of complaints the office had received in the past were from non-smokers who were annoyed with the air quality in the restaurants due to smoking sections. He points out that crowded rush hours contributed to the problem, as well as the unavoidable proximity of of the smoking sections to the smoke-free areas. This, Bingham believes, is the reason he has not had any complaints or met with opposition about the new policy. Even Gracie's, which has had a noticeable population of smokers in past years, has accepted the change without difficulty.

Bingham does admit that the policy is entirely the result of the county law; the administration had no other plans to enact such a policy. He believes that the public community should first accept such a policy as it did in this case. “It's not a big deal,” says first year student and smoker Ron Cavagnaro. As he explains it, “You're going to smoke when you're done eating.” He feels the rights of non-smokers must be respected.

Second year non-smoker Cory Card agrees with the decision to implement the law early: “No one is used to smoking in there, so they don't really care.” He sees the law as positive, but more so for non-smokers, adding, it's limiting personal freedom if you choose to smoke.” Mark Bixler, first year non-smoker, agrees. “I do see how it affects [smokers'] rights,” he says. “They have the right to smoke.” He supports the policy, though, saying that if he smoked he “wouldn't make other people suffer.”

This new policy serves to strengthen a growing anti-smoking policy on the RIT campus. Recent years have seen banning of smoking in all offices and public areas on campus, as well as a more strictly defined residence hall smoking policy. The sale of cigarettes does, however, continue on campus at the Candy Counter and the Corner Store.

The first smoking regulation in Monroe County was instituted in 1987, which restricted smoking areas in restaurants to a maximum of 30% of the dining area. Last year the percentage fell to a maximum of 15% before being reduced to none on August 31, 1998. RIT first announced its decision to implement the law in its April 2, 1998 publication of RIT News & Events.