Message From The Administration About Your Smoking Problem
Howdy folks,
It's your friendly, happy administration here letting you know that you need to stop smoking. Obviously, you cannot smoke inside. But, what we want to remind you is that you cannot smoke anywhere near the law school. Outside on the patio? Nope. On the sidewalk on Bancroft? Are you joking, you tobacco stained loser, of course not. Next to the Archeology building? Don't know where that is? I'm sure you do, you dirty, dirty smoker. Don't you dumb smokers know that smoking kills people. Smoking kills lots of people. It's probably already killed you, but you don't know it yet. God, I am so pissed! We live in a healthy, productive society and fuck you smokers for putting your smoke through our windows and in our vents and just making this world a dirty, unattractive place. So, guess what. We have a policy. Our policy is that you smokers should quit immediately. But, because we can't determine law school admission by smoking preference, we've decided that we'll just not allow you to smoke anywhere near the school. Got it?! Seriously, I'm looking at you, J*y.
Fuck it,
The Administration
It's your friendly, happy administration here letting you know that you need to stop smoking. Obviously, you cannot smoke inside. But, what we want to remind you is that you cannot smoke anywhere near the law school. Outside on the patio? Nope. On the sidewalk on Bancroft? Are you joking, you tobacco stained loser, of course not. Next to the Archeology building? Don't know where that is? I'm sure you do, you dirty, dirty smoker. Don't you dumb smokers know that smoking kills people. Smoking kills lots of people. It's probably already killed you, but you don't know it yet. God, I am so pissed! We live in a healthy, productive society and fuck you smokers for putting your smoke through our windows and in our vents and just making this world a dirty, unattractive place. So, guess what. We have a policy. Our policy is that you smokers should quit immediately. But, because we can't determine law school admission by smoking preference, we've decided that we'll just not allow you to smoke anywhere near the school. Got it?! Seriously, I'm looking at you, J*y.
Fuck it,
The Administration
Labels: 0L/1L Advice, moral character, Smokers
posted by James at 2:10 PM
36 Comments:
can we try triangulating the smoking allowed areas? are we supposed to cross the street over to Frat Row? oh, wait, the city apparently isn't down with sidewalk smoking. and the ugly fountain seems like one of the more acceptable smoking destinations, but i'm sure it falls into someone or other's smoke-hating jurisdiction. this is enough to make me wanna take up residence in a mechanical room
I took up smoking and smoke on the patio just to stick it to the school.
I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure this email was prompted by my friend and I smoking yesterday afternoon. You know when you're in the hallway in front of 105? We went out the non-Bancroft side door, went down the steps toward the windows of room 10, but then decided we needed to be a little farther away (even though the windows to room 10 weren't open), so we stood in the middle of the patch of cement between the terrace and the grassy area right there. I'm not great at distances, but my best estimate is that we were about 35 feet away from the basement entrance and about 50 feet away from the first floor entrance. If we had gone any farther we wouldn't have made it back by the time the class break was over!
Honestly, I get that the admin wants us to stop smoking period, but short of that, if they actually want us to follow the plethora of restrictions, why not tell us where we can actually smoke? If they do that, I'll go there!
Wasn't there a smoking lounge in the new addition?
On this topic, I am fine with smoking, but I do not understand why smokers do not think throwing cigarette butts on the ground is littering. The Simon entrance has cigarette butts all over the ground constantly.
I don't understand why smokers complain about having to walk a couple of minutes away from the building. Have you considered the health harms you are inflicting on those who choose not to smoke?
7:34, when it comes to lung cancer at Boalt Hall, second hand smoke ought to be the least of your worries.
Have you considered the health harms?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
god, i wish smokers would hurry up and die already.
don't get me wrong, alcoholism is a disease--nay and epidemic--and drug addiction is nothing short of tragic. but if you're addicted to tobacco, well, fuck you.
The administration goes ballistic on this every now and then. There must be an ex-smoker on the staff.
The ashtray by the Simon Hall entrance disappeared a few days ago, so I think this current crackdown has been in the works. I guess we had it coming for smoking under the ledge by the computer lab's (closed) windows when it rains. And that ashtray probably was not whatever number of feet away from the door.
Personally I do my best to be conscientious even outdoors, and I don't like to leave butts on the ground or to see them. But people's hating on the smoke itself is really just about annoyance, isn't it? I would like to see data on health risks from outdoor second-hand smoke.
Does anyone have anything that proves the harmful effects of second hand smoke. I find it hard to believe that anyone can really have any harmful results unless they lived in a home or worked in a place where cigarettes were smoked for years and years. I realize I have nothing to back this up other than my intuition, but can someone really get cancer from occasionally passing by a smoker OUTSIDE?
The people who suffer from this so called crisis lived in an era where people literally smoked all day everyday, everywhere. How can the occasional smoke outside be any worse than the massive deadly pesticides sprayed, or chemicals in our foods. Yes, I'm basing this on absolutely nothing, but can someone make sense of this with data?
11:47 back here, read the second-hand smoke link Boalt sent us. It says that it is responsible for however many deaths FOR PEOPLE WHO LIVE WITH SMOKERS. Call me crazy but I'd say there is a pretty big difference between living in a contained space with a pack a day smoker and walking outside. Challenge: can someone link me to one second-hand smoke death caused by someone who did not have extensive exposure to it?
Consider: Extensive exposure causes severe health risks, therefore minor exposure likely causes small (yet real) health risks.
Doesn't the Boalt admin realize that smoking makes you cool?
All of this is somewhat beside the point, don't you think? Smoking is not illegal (yet), so therefore people are going to continue to smoke outside. If the Boalt admin really wants us to follow the rules about where we can't smoke, they should tell us where we CAN smoke, so that I know to head there when I want a cigarette, since I'm certainly not going to bring a tape measure and try to calculate the trajectory of my smoke into second and third story windows every time I step outside.
I agree. Please tell us where we CAN smoke and we'll go there. Until I know where I can, I'll just keep guessing incorrectly.
11:47/11:56
I don't think that anyone has linked it to a death - though I think there was a study in Canada about admittance of cardiac patients to emergency rooms falling after a smoking ban was implemented.
Regardless, SHS is still hazardous to health (though not inducing immediate death) even outdoors:
http://exposurescience.org/pub/reports/Outdoor_ETS_Final.pdf
Does anyone else ever get surprised once in a while that people still smoke? Given the $22/pack tax and the 14 square feet in California where smoking is allowed, it always catches me off guard when someone lights up.
Individual freedoms, libertarianism, Ronald Reagan, etc., etc., I do admit that like the no smoking in bars rule. In Moscow, ID (where I and another esteemed alum went to school and got tattoos), most of the college bars are grandfathered in against the no-smoking rule, and when you come home for the night, you smell like chimney (which I may or may not equate with success). It's nice coming home from a bar in California and not having to wash your jeans. Yeah, I said it. I wear my jeans more than once. Bitches.
Toney, it's also possible that you smell like a chimney because of the prevalence of smoke from chimneys at Sarah Palin's former stomping grounds.
Stanford did a study in 2007 I think that showed outdoor secondhand smoke could cause harm when people were sitting within 2 feet or so of the smoker.
Toney, you should only wash your jeans as often as you absolutely have to.
I only wash my jeans when I shit in them.
does anyone wash jeans more than once a semester? if so, why?
(1) If you don't like someone's outdoor smoking, walk away. If that person is smoking in a way that makes that difficult/impossible (e.g. in one's direct path to a door), that person is an asshole but last I checked, that's not illegal.
(2) Many smokers toss butts on the ground because all of the ashtrays have disappeared. I try to stub it out and use a trashcan where feasible but that isn't the case. Sometimes it's better to opt for littering over potential arson/carrying a cigarette butt around indefinitely.
(3) I like the smoking-in-bars-ban too. Many smokers do.
(4) Am I the only one who finds is disturbing that smokers and convicted sex offenders seem to be the main (only?) groups being herded by geographic rules? Obviously I know there are differences between the rules (living v. standing etc) but still. Smoking has become the new red scare.
(5) Considering that I walk by areas that exude the stench of (a) decaying garbage, (b) copious amounts of human urine, (c) pot smoke, (d) car exhaust, (e) vomit, and (f) human and dog feces on an almost daily basis, I find it laughable that anyone in SF or Berkeley can seriously suggest that the walking near a smoker is really their biggest health risk.
You're right, 4:49, we should deal with homeless people as well!!!!
It's not just annoying, it's sometimes unbearable. When someone who has been smoking outside comes inside and sits next to me in class or in the library, my throat burns, my stomach hurts, and I get a headache, all within minutes. I can't change that. But I do appreciate it when you smoke in areas where the smoke doesn't come into the building.
We don't allow cellphones in the library, because it bothers others who are studying. Yeah, it's an inconvenience to ignore a call that might be important. But it's polite. I'm not sure why walking out another 25 feet in order to smoke is causing so much anger.
Maybe your smoking won't kill me, but I really do appreciate your consideration. Thanks all.
1. Here's a reason to wash your jeans (for the smokers anyway):
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-is-third-hand-smoke
2. Re: 'The administration hasn't told us where one CAN smoke' argument- why not just go somewhere there aren't any people? Try the parking lot behind Boalt- very few people, lots of space. It may not be as convenient as smoking in an entrance way or sidewalk, but this way you won't risk incurring the wrath of the righteous.
Sometimes I smoke inside the student center just for fun.
10:00 --
I wish it were as simple as smoking where there are no people. I have smoked in many of the places listed in KVDH's email before, because to me they seemed like fine places to smoke, since there were no people. But apparently sometimes smoke floats up into second and third story windows which may be open. I'm pretty sure she listed the parking lot as a no-no spot.
I get that being forced to hang out in someone's cloud of smoke can be incredibly unpleasant. But after a certain point the restrictions are silly. I will do my best to smoke away from where people are sitting, and everyone else can also do their best to stay away from where there are smokers, if it bothers them. If some of my smoke accidentally wafts into your second story window, close it.
I like to burn plastic. It's just something I enjoy doing. Also rubber. Ahh the smell of melted rubber in the morning . . .
I really don't understand why people complain when I do it. It's my personal habit and everyone else should have to endure health risks so I don't have to walk 25 feet out a building.
What really gets me steamed is the fact that the university does not provide a good place for me to deposit the melted rubber. It's not safe to put in regular trash. As a result I sometimes leave my waste on the ground. Obviously it's everyone elses responsibility to cater to the needs of my personal habit. And if they don't, I should be free to be a litterbug. Everyone else has the responsibility to pay for the cleanup associated with my personal habit.
12:19, it's amazing how judgmental some non-smokers are. I am a non-smoker but I don't wish to pass judgment on those who do smoke.
Your "analogy" (if one can call it that), 12:19, is flawed, to say the least. Burning rubber (or plastic, or what have you) may be something that you enjoy doing - however, you are most likely the only person at the law school who enjoys doing that. Therefore, the school has no reason to accommodate your "requests."
In the same way that many people like to ride their bikes to school, many people like to smoke cigarettes. The school does not want bikes littering the hallways and the library and the classrooms, so the school has provided an area where students can lock their bikes. In the same way, the school does not want students smoking near "open windows" or "doorways," or many other areas. Therefore, the school should provide a place where students can smoke.
I don't understand why non-smokers try to take the moral high ground every time the issue of smoking is brought up, and try to paint smokers as horrible sinners who have no regard for their fellow students' health concerns. All the smokers have done is ask for an area in which they are allowed to smoke. I don't feel like that is too much to ask.
I didn't post that the rubber analogy, but I understand where she is coming from. Us nonsmokers aren't judgmental, we are protective of our own well-being. I can care less what you do with your own life, but when it affects my own well-being, I'll take offense and I'll voice my opinion.
this thread needs more metaphors. i don't understand 1/4 of what's happening. maybe i got eye cancer from my laundry detergent...omg
As a rubber burner, I take offense at the comparison between my habit and smoking.
I can't wait to see how many of you end of defending big tobacco.
It's a joyous experience.
I have never defended big tobacco, but I did discover that big tobacco stocks offered dividend yields more than double the interest rate on my student loans. So rather than pay off my loans early, I played what I call the Altria Arbitrage. And the stock has appreciated very nicely in the last few years.
There's a reason to light up! (And I say this as a person who has never smoked a cigarette.)
8:02: Arguing that tobacco is not liable under existing law is perfectly consistent with supporting regulations that limit where cigarettes can be smoked.
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