2008 Woodie Awards
RSSAsh tray locations seen as contrary to rule
By Elaine Hardenstine
Issue date: 10/23/07 Section: News
The proximity of cigarette dispensers to residential housing might work against Lehigh's smoking policy.
Ash Stashes, containers for used cigarette butts, sit directly outside all residential and many academic buildings. They are within five feet of the doors.
Put into place to help keep the campus clean, Ash Stash offers an environmentally-friendly way to discard a cigarette.
However, Lehigh policy prohibits students from smoking next to the Ash Stashes.
According to section one of Residential Services' general provisions for student occupancy, located on the Lehigh housing Web site, "Smoking is permitted on residential grounds, provided it occurs 15 feet from any building entrance and away from windows of residential services."
To follow standards, smokers would have to take a puff fifteen feet away and then walk back to the Ash Stash to dispose of the cigarette ashes and butt.
A sticker reiterating the rule is on every Ash Stash.
It reads, "You must be at least 15 feet from the building when smoking."
Ozzie Breiner, director of residential services, said the Ash Stash containers do not contradict policy.
"It doesn't mean smoke next to the Ash Stash," Breiner said.
Fazle Rabbi, '11, said the university should put the Ash Stashes 15 feet away from buildings.
First, they will stop some of the littering.
Second, the containers give students a designated zone to smoke in.
Breiner said it is not always possible to put an Ash Stash 15 feet away. It needs to fit in a concrete, level spot and cannot extend into parking lots or grassy areas.
According to several student smokers, the placement of the Ash Stash incidentally causes them to choose between affecting non-smokers and a clean environment.
Some students just stand next to the Ash Stash as they smoke.
They do not seem to mind that they're breaking the rule, as long as they are outside and discarding of the cigarette properly.
Ash Stashes, containers for used cigarette butts, sit directly outside all residential and many academic buildings. They are within five feet of the doors.
Put into place to help keep the campus clean, Ash Stash offers an environmentally-friendly way to discard a cigarette.
However, Lehigh policy prohibits students from smoking next to the Ash Stashes.
According to section one of Residential Services' general provisions for student occupancy, located on the Lehigh housing Web site, "Smoking is permitted on residential grounds, provided it occurs 15 feet from any building entrance and away from windows of residential services."
To follow standards, smokers would have to take a puff fifteen feet away and then walk back to the Ash Stash to dispose of the cigarette ashes and butt.
A sticker reiterating the rule is on every Ash Stash.
It reads, "You must be at least 15 feet from the building when smoking."
Ozzie Breiner, director of residential services, said the Ash Stash containers do not contradict policy.
"It doesn't mean smoke next to the Ash Stash," Breiner said.
Fazle Rabbi, '11, said the university should put the Ash Stashes 15 feet away from buildings.
First, they will stop some of the littering.
Second, the containers give students a designated zone to smoke in.
Breiner said it is not always possible to put an Ash Stash 15 feet away. It needs to fit in a concrete, level spot and cannot extend into parking lots or grassy areas.
According to several student smokers, the placement of the Ash Stash incidentally causes them to choose between affecting non-smokers and a clean environment.
Some students just stand next to the Ash Stash as they smoke.
They do not seem to mind that they're breaking the rule, as long as they are outside and discarding of the cigarette properly.
