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Associate Vice President for Facilities Services Lowell Bromander submitted a proposal to the administrative cabinet to change the smoking policy in an effort to improve air quality within buildings and diminish the amount of time spent cleaning up cigarette butts on Hamline grounds. The proposal was approved and put into effect in late August.

Beginning with the School of Law and finishing with buildings on the main campus last week, new signs have been posted on all campus buildings prohibiting smoking within 25 feet of the building, and cigarette urns have been moved to appropriate distances from campus buildings.

According to Bromander, cigarette disposal has caused several problems on campus which he hopes the new policy will help to solve. “We had a couple of fires, cigarette butts thrown into dry mulch, and we spend about eight [labor] hours a day picking up butts and cleaning ash trays,” Bromander said. “We looked at policies on other campuses and cities. We wanted to get in line with what other places were doing.” Bromander hopes that smokers on campus will respect the new policy.

The Surgeon General’s statement about secondhand smoke was part of what prompted the administration to move on the new rule. “There was a concern for health,” Bromander said. “Smokers [were] congregating near doorways and people had to walk through and breathe the smoke to get inside.”

The 25-foot restriction is not limited to entryways, rather smoking is prohibited 25 feet around any area of a building to ensure that air intake systems are not taking in cigarette smoke. Problem buildings included the Learning Center and Robbins Science Center, both of which have air intakes near ground level, according to Bromander.

The official rule on the Hamline website states that “enforcement of the policy will be in accord with the enforcement of other policies set by Hamline University,” presumably residing with the Office of Safety and Security. However, both Bromander and Director of Safety and Security Shirleen Hoffman expressed a hope that students will comply with the policy of their own volition and that their will be no need for greater involvement from Safety and Security aside from simple reminders.

“I would hope that every member of the community will help in enforcement of that,” said Bromander. “We’ll deal with enforcement if and when it becomes an issue,” Hoffman also said.

Susie Bou, a sophomore who smokes fairly often said she plans to comply with the new rule even in the dreaded winter months. “I have no problem with it,” Bou said, “I’ll try to comply.”

The full policy can be viewed on the Hamline University Policies Index page online.