Earth and Planetary Science professors say Northrop Hall is sucking in secondhand smoke from a designated area in front of the building.
EPS Department Chairman John Geissman said the building sometimes has negative air pressure, which draws outside air — and smoke — into the Hall. The smoking area placed near the building’s north entrance also exposes passersby to secondhand smoke. “I understand the need for designated smoking areas,” he said. “But I think this one needs to be moved.”
Pug Burge, head of the Smoke-Free Environment Committee, said the committee learned about Geissman’s concerns Friday and there are plans to consider moving the smoking area.
“The arguments for moving the Northrop spot make sense to me,” she said.
Burge said a periodic committee meeting was scheduled for November, but the Northrop Hall conflict has made her schedule a meeting open to all members of the UNM community for mid-September.
EPS Professor Yemane Asmerom said the large air-intake vents on the two-story roof of Northrop Hall can conceivably suck in secondhand smoke.
“The building overall is supposed to be positive (in air pressure), but there are times it could be negative, depending on other doors open,” Asmerom said. “Also, the air cycler has to reuse conditioned air — we don’t throw it out. Once smoke gets in, it’s going to be recycled, basically.”
Asmerom also said the large lecture hall near Northrop’s north entrance places hundreds of students at risk for exposure to secondhand smoke.
“The biggest concern is that the smoking area is located by the only entrance to the lecture hall,” he said. “I don’t know how many students pass it each day — perhaps 500.”
Burge said the Smoke-Free Environment Committee considered several factors in deciding where to place the smoking areas.
“We were looking for places safe and well-lit, where we would get enough students and employees — also a space large enough so people wouldn’t have to walk through it,” she said.
Geissman said the smoking area should be moved near Carlisle Gymnasium, just north of Northrop Hall. He has picked out two spots at Carlisle Gym that he thinks would make good smoking areas, one at the southwest and the northeast side of the building.
“My working hypothesis is that they have greater positive air pressure than we do,” he said.
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Graduate student Stephanie Yurchyk said she wants to see the smoking area moved away from Northrop Hall.
“The grad students used to eat lunch out there,” she said. “Now a lot of us have stopped.”
Yurchyk said she will be circulating a petition to get the smoking area moved. She said the petition can be accessed in Northrop’s main office.
Trigg Scettle, UNM student and smoker, said the risk for secondhand smoke is present regardless of the smoking area’s location.
“The problem is that wherever you’re concentrating smokers, you’re concentrating secondhand smoke,” he said. “You’re going to be making someone angry.”
Geissman said the smoking area should be moved so that less people will be exposed to secondhand smoke inside and outside the building.
“The traffic at these two spots (near Carlisle Gym) appears to be a lot less than at the current location,” he said.
Asmerom said he’s glad the University has instituted the tobacco-free policy, but he believes a few kinks still need to be worked out in the policy.
“I think the University should be commended for trying to do this, but there are some issues that need to be worked out,” he said. “And that’s okay.”
Smoke-Free Environment Committee meeting
Scholes Hall Room 101
Sept. 16, 3:30 p.m.
