Many students unaware of campus smoking policy
People aren't allowed to smoke or use tobacco in the buildings of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, but that doesn't stop some of them from lighting up right outside the door.
Since 2002, according to the university's Business and Finance Policies Web site, smoking outside of campus facilities is allowed as long as smokers are 10 feet away from the entrances.
On Saturdays when the Cornhuskers play at home, there are many smokers taking a nicotine break outside each Memorial Stadium gate at halftime. But some don't stand as far away from the doors as the university policy mandates.
Ryan Keaschall, a senior art major, was at the Nebraska-Kansas football game and took a cigarette break during halftime, but he stood about 10 to 15 feet away from the southeast gates.
"It's not a rule," Keaschall said. "It's like a stipulation. It's a thing they do since we have a nonalcoholic campus."
Minneapolis natives Mike Lindquist and his son, Jack, attended the game as well.
Lindquist said smoking outside the stadium bothered him, but he tolerates it because he has been to many Husker games since the 1970s, when his brother, Steve, played offensive guard for Nebraska.
"If they could move (people) back more, it would be great," Lindquist said. "I guess they have to have areas for people who want to do it. We tolerate it the best we can."
It's not a crime if people smoke too close to the entrances of campus facilities, Sgt. Douglas Petersen of University Police said, but it is if they light up inside.
"We ask them to go outside as a courtesy for people standing next to them," Petersen said of individuals who smoke near the stadium during football games.
Kelly Bartling, the news manager of University Communications, said the event staff at athletic activities is in charge of making sure people are far enough away from the building entrances to satisfy the 10-foot policy.
One issue is smokers can't go far outside some of the gates, like the southeast ones, where they are compressed into a small space, Bartling said. Therefore, she said, going more than 10 feet away from a stadium entrance can be difficult.
"We sure haven't heard much in the matter of complaints of people having to walk through areas of smoke like that, and if it's something we need to keep an eye on, then we'll do that," Bartling said.
She also added telling an event staff member about the issue might be a good way to tell smokers to move farther away from the gate entrances.
Near many buildings on campus, there are ashtrays outside for cigarette and cigar waste, like at the bottom of the steps at Abel Residence Hall.
Krista Munier, a senior modern languages major, has lived in Abel for four years, and she said she almost never sees smokers 10 feet away from the doors.
"It bothers me because I have to breathe it in every time I go in and out of the building," Munier said. "It never bothers me enough to say anything, since they don't get to smoke inside anyway."
Bartling said if people complain about tobacco users outside a certain facility or edifice, the smokers are notified and asked to respect the 10-foot policy.
"There are ways we can communicate with faculty and staff," Bartling said. "Everybody has been really great when approached and asked to consider how far they are from the buildings."
When it comes to nicotine use outside residence halls, Bartling said housing staff members usually keep an eye on it since the issue is under the authority of the Residence Hall Association.
These days, smokers have been the targets of many laws.
Though the university first prohibited smoking inside its facilities in 1993, Lincoln's smoking ban, which took effect in January 2005, pushed people outside to light up. Tobacco users face similar opposition in Omaha, too.
To Bartling, the use of tobacco on campus has not been too much of a controversy in recent years.
"For the most part, complaints about smoking around buildings have been relatively few," Bartling said. "I think for the most part, smokers are aware of the issues that arise when they're smoking. Everybody has been cognizant of that, and we have not had problems with it."
Keaschall, who is in the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts, said a professor complained about his smoking once, but he didn't listen.
He added the 10-foot policy isn't a smart one.
"No one believes in it," said Keaschall, and then he added jokingly, "You should get to smoke in buildings anywhere."
