With the new smoking ban
in place, Bucks officials have
now decided where students
can – and cannot – smoke.
According to the Bucks
administration, smoking is
permitted in parking lots A,
B, C, D, E, F and H, which are
beyond Linden Lane and
Employee Road and in private
vehicles.
Elizabeth Kulick, assistant
dean of enrollment service,
said students had been notified
about the ban’s status
through signs, pamphlets,
word of mouth and an e-mail
blast to the Bucks Gmail system.
But it remains unclear
exactly how the ban will be
enforced – or if it will be
enforced at all. Some students
say they’ll keep smoking
where they want until someone
stops them.
“Essentially speaking, I’m
going to do what I want to do
until I’m reprimanded. I’m
not going to stop smoking on
campus, but I think I’m being
respectful,” said Zach
McConnell, 22, liberal arts
major from Pipersville.
McConnell was smoking a
clove cigarette outside Rollins
when he was asked why he
was smoking on campus after
the ban. He responded,
“There’s no other place to
go.” He mentioned he had no
idea where the designated
areas were.
Other students interviewed
by the Centurion said they
had no idea there were new
prohibitions.
“I didn’t know there was a
ban,” said Chris Stewart, a
21-year-old education major
of Langhorne while smoking
on the benches between the
Fireside Lounge and the
Library. When told there
were signs across campus
grounds and in doors and
windows, Stewart said,
“Signs? Where?”
Mike Christodoulou, 20-
year-old business administration
major from Richboro
said, “I don’t see any signs.”
In the days between the
Sept. 11 approval and Oct. 1
enactment of the designated
smoking areas on campus,
administration met the
requirements the Bucks
Board of trustees outlined.
These requirements were
that notification was to be in
place to alert the Bucks community
of the ban, and the
designated smoking areas
were to be-designated.
Smoker Ryan Stroud, 19-
year-old multimedia major
from Bensalem, said the ban
had “sloppy organization”
but he had seen the signs that
a ban was in effect. He lit a
cigarette on the benches outside
of the Fireside Lounge.
All these smokers said
nothing about getting an email
about the ban and
according to a report last year
in the Centurion, only 14 out
of about 10,000 Bucks students
had activated their
Bucks Gmail. Debbie Noble,
chief information technology
officer at Bucks, didn’t return
calls for comment about
whether more students were
using Bucks Gmail this year.
What or who is really going
to prevent smokers from
lighting up?
According to Kulick and
Student Life Director Matt
Cipriano, Bucks students,
staff and faculty should be
wagging a finger at smokers
and reporting them to Safety
and Security or Student Life if
they continue to smoke or a
problem develops.
But Cipriano said that the
ban is in a time of adjustment.
Smoking will ultimately be
suppressed as time goes on,
and an immediate cessation
across campus is unrealistic,
he said.
Cipriano has been walking
about campus whenever he
has time between obligations
and meetings with fellow
Student Life staff Carol
Watson and Dave Collelo,
informing students of the
ban. “It was actually nice
because I got to meet a ton of
new students,” said Cipriano.
Samantha Monter, 18, education
major from Bensalem,
was smoking with Stroud.
“[Cipriano] was the only person
I’ve seen enforcing the
ban. He just asked me nicely
to put my cigarette out, so I
did.”
Kulick said she believes
there will be a two-week window
for students to become
aware of the new policy and
afterward changes will be
made to the policy if needed.
“My expectation is the majority
will comply [with the
ban],” said Kulick.
Cipriano believes that as
time passes there will be
fewer incidents of smoking,
but he will address regular
violators.
He also mentioned he has
seen the same people lighting
up and that they are more
likely to have action taken
against them. “[The ban]
needs to be constantly reinforced,”
said Cipriano. “All
faculty and staff should be
enforcing this.”
Monter said that she always
sees faculty smoking on campus.
“Usually, they sit down
with us to smoke, security
officers too.”
Then the question arises: If
you are smoking on campus,
are there consequences?
As of now, Cipriano says
no.
The ban is written up in the
Student Code of Conduct. If
you are a student, or staff or
faculty member at Bucks, you
agree to the terms in the code
when you are matriculated or
hired. The penalties
for breaking the
code of conduct
vary. Cipriano said
it could be a fine, a
warning, probation
or something more
“creative.”
“If someone continues
to challenge
the ban, I can have
them write a paper
on smoking cessation
or pick up
butts,” he said.
Safety and Security, with
Newtown Township Police,
have been on campus to
address a student outside the
Fireside Lounge who continued
to smoke and was disturbing
the Bucks community.
Kulick said, “There will
always be somebody that
attempts to challenge a new
policy. [Punishment] will
depend on how far they
push.”
Six students were interviewed
specifically about
whether they knew who was
enforcing the ban and what
the consequences were if
caught smoking. None said
they were aware of the designated
areas or enforcers. All
interviewees said that going
to the parking lots was inconvenient
and they weren’t
going to smoke there.
Stewart said, “Unless they
fine me, I don’t care.”
As Bucks continues to light
up, and faculty and safety
and security walk by smokers,
who knows when it will
be butts out, but administration
claims to have sufficiently
alerted the