No smoking, please - Tips News & Trends

Career World, Nov-Dec, 2002

When your parents were growing up, smoking in public buildings was common. Nowadays, "no smoking" buildings are becoming the norm. And that goes for college dorms too. More and more colleges and universities are banning smoking in all dorm areas, public and private.

"The idea is to give people the option to be with people whose behavior pattern is similar to their own," says Gary Schwarzmueller, executive director of the Association of College and University Housing Office International. "This has been growing and picking up steam in the last 10 years."

The no-smoking dorms have a hidden advantage too. They seem to discourage students who don't smoke from starting. Students living in dorms where smoking was banned were 40 percent less likely to start smoking than those living in dorms that allowed smoking.