Smoking ban up in smoke

As of Monday, you had to be at least 30 feet away from building entrances and exits, partially or fully enclosed walkways, open windows and ventilation systems of property owned or leased by IU to smoke.\nAt least, that's what it says on paper.\nAnd a lot of the must-be-30-feet-away-to-smoke amendment to the campus's 1993 smoking policy, which prohibited smoking in University owned buildings and vehicles, makes sense on paper. It made enough sense on paper for a task force, which consisted of 10 faculty members and five students, to finalize it and send it off to Chancellor Sharon Brehm, who must have thought it made enough sense on paper when she approved it last week. \nThe motivations make sense on paper. Brehm said in a statement on the Office of the Chancellor Web site that she approved the amendment because "it will create a healthier environment on the campus." Also, congregations of smokers standing in high-traffic areas outside class halls can congest the flow of students. \nBut where the amendment ceases to make sense is when it goes from paper and stands on its own and the issue of enforceability is raised.\nUnlike the 1993 campus policy or the recently enacted citywide policy banning smoking in Bloomington restaurants, bars and other city buildings, this new amendment deals with regulating the smoking people do outside, a location normally assumed to be everyone's space. Many buildings have little smoking trays located conveniently outside the doors that cannot be moved 30 feet away from the building.\nEnforcement right now, according to Dean of Students Richard McKaig, will be lenient because the amendment is currently being phased in over a period of 60 days. Yet whenever it's fully phased in, there seems to be a question about what kind of punishment will be used for those who don't comply.\nThe enforcement has the potential to get fickle. Who will have the capacity to enforce it? Will the IU Police Department have a vested interest in enforcing the new policy while continuing to monitor and enforce rules on much more excessive and potentially illegal consumption elsewhere on campus? Will primary citation come from residence hall monitors? Will anyone, students or professors, be cited without bias? \nThese questions might seem arbitrary when simply asking people to move might work. But as the summer rolls into fall, the questions will resurface as smokers move closer to the buildings when the winter months approach.\nThe new smoking policy is simple enough to understand -- don't smoke within 30 feet of a building. But that's all it says. It's vague enough to raise valid questions that should be answered before the 60-day transition period comes to a close and before winter comes to town.\nRegardless of how you feel about the policy, we believe those for and against must concede that in order for the policy to work properly and be considered necessary and not arbitrary, it must be enforced and moreover, be enforceable.\nOtherwise, what it's worth on paper simply goes up in smoke.