We should applaud the stand taken by the acting president of Smith College, John M. Connolly, reported in your Jan. 11 issue under the heading "Take it outside." He has authorized the banning of smoking in the Smith College residence halls beginning next summer, which follows a similar ban at Mount Holyoke College last fall. At UMass, housing policy allows for smoking in some dormitories, albeit in designated areas, though not in all dormitories. In reality, countless students tell me, smoking continues in many areas of our residence halls, particularly in student rooms, despite the objections of many of the smokers' roommates. I am frequently asked by my student patients with asthma and allergies to advocate for them to have a smoke-free room, which I am sure is difficult to provide by Housing on a regular basis when so many of their peers condone smoking behavior. I am sympathetic with Housing Services' efforts to enforce the present smoking policy, which I am also sure is difficult to enforce, faced with a significant population of young adults that enjoy smoking, as it tries to accommodate some spaces for the smokers.
Despite years of public health warnings and anti-smoking campaigns, the prevalence of smoking in young adults has risen over the last decade. According to the Centers for Diseaese Control and Prevention, 80 percent of adult smokers started smoking before age 18. There are now over 7 million smokers in the 18- to 24-year age bracket. Smoking continues to cause an estimated 400,000 deaths each year with a direct medical cost of $50 billion per year in this country. As an educational institution, we need to facilitate the reverse of this trend, support healthy lifestyles, and provide a safe smoke free living environment for our students.
I believe it is time to re-examine the issue of smoking in the residence halls at UMass, just as they have at Smith and Mount Holyoke colleges. I recognize that banning all smoking inside of dormitories might be difficult to enforce, but I believe that such a policy would establish a clear and important message. Efforts to curb smoking behavior in our young adults need to be fostered. We too should ask that those that smoke "take it outside."
ALAN J. CALHOUN, M.D.
medical director,
University Health Services
Over years of walking and cycling across campus between the Whitmore building and Thompson Hall, I have happened on student guides addressing groups of visitors. Without exception, these young guides have displayed vigor, enthusiasm, clarity and personal warmth and responsiveness. The bits I see and hear in passing them always win my admiration and stir my pride in the University's students. Those who organize these visitor tours, and especially the students who actually conduct them, deserve our respect and thanks. It is true that my judgment, always fallible, is based on fleeting moments of observation, but I am confident of having regularly witnessed able people performing at a high level on behalf of the University. Well done!
LEWIS C. MAINZER
professor emeritus,
Political Science
