For many Loyola students who light up after a few hours of studying, the library entrance’s steps are the perfect social smoking area. But if a new Loyola SGA proposal passes this year, the smoke clouds that rise above the Monroe Library and many other places on campus will permanently disappear.

If passed, this proposal would create designated smoking areas, which lie far away from the entrances and exits of campus buildings.

Although popular spots like “Smoker’s Alley” (the row of benches in the Peace Quad), and “the back porch” behind the Danna Center are protected areas, smoking on other areas of the campus will be prohibited.

According to the 2007-2008 Student Handbook, smoking within 20 feet of residence halls was banned last year. But some students feel that this year’s tentative all-building inclusive ordinance is too much to take.

Mass communication sophomore Courtney Anderson said that the restrictions would be difficult to enforce.

“Who will abide by this? People are still going to smoke where they’ve been smoking,” she said.

But SGA believes fines will prevent this attitude. According to the provisional pamphlet “Draw The Line,” which will be issued to students if the proposal makes it through the University Senate, student smokers would pay $40 for lighting up within 20 feet of a campus entrance, $25 for smoking in non-designated areas and $10 for throwing butts anywhere outside of ashtrays or trashcans.

Another student and smoker, who asked to remain anonymous, said the fines were excessive and unnecessary.

“I pay enough to go to school here,” she said. “I think the fines are extreme.”

In an e-mail to The Maroon, SGA President Cade Cypriano, political science senior, said all fines will go to “counseling services for the support and expansion of smoking cessation assistance and programming.”

Cypriano said the proposal falls in line with similar smoke-free initiatives at universities across the nation.

“This effort is being made due to a strengthening push by universities across the nation to go totally smoke-free,” he said. “And to adequately represent the student body and avoid a chaotic transition, SGA decided to pioneer efforts and establish a middle ground in the form of the designated smoking area policy proposal.”

The American Non-Smoker’s Rights Foundation reported that 131 colleges and universities across the U.S. have completely banned smoking while 31 have limited smokers to designated areas.

So far the proposal has reached the desk of the Rev. Kevin Wildes, university president, who told The Maroon in an e-mail that, although nothing is official, he remains positive about the issue.

“I am supportive because of the health issues for smokers and because of the issues of secondary smoke,” he said. “However, this is not ‘policy’ yet. I was given the proposals by SGA and I am following up.”

And while the results of this follow-up may lead to tighter restrictions on those who light up, some faculty and students say they would be happier with the changes.

“Smoking should only be done in designated areas. I feel I shouldn’t have to walk through that. I’ve had three family members die from the effects of cigarette smoke,” Jordan Deshotels, political science junior, said.

Monroe librarian Beth West said, “Loyola has such confined and tight quarters. There is no way not to be susceptible to second-hand smoke. Why should I have to die for their addiction?”

Jessica Williams can be reached at [email protected]. Sarah Goodwin can be reached at [email protected].