Few at CSUN Fume Over Smoking Ban : Health: Puffing will be prohibited within 30 feet of school buildings. Even the university president must comply.

Cal State Northridge President James Cleary is the first to admit the school’s new smoking ban is going to put the damper on habitual puffers.

Cleary, a pipe smoker, will eventually be prohibited from lighting up even in his private office under the new no-smoking rules he approved last week.

Beginning this week, smoking is forbidden in hallways, restrooms, dining areas and staff lounges on campus. In six months, smoking will be prohibited in all indoor areas, including Cleary’s office.

“I have six months to straighten up,” said Cleary, who has been smoking a custom blend of pipe tobacco for 18 years. “If tens of thousands of people have been able to quit, then I can do it.”

By 1995, Cleary has pledged, smoking will be banned at all university events--even football games at the outdoor stadium.

Cleary approved the new rules after more than a year of deliberation with faculty and student organizations seeking the ban because of evidence that secondhand smoke can cause serious health problems for nonsmokers.

Under the new rules, smokers must be more than 30 feet away from a public building before lighting up.

The CSUN rules follow the lead of institutions such as UC Berkeley and Cal State Long Beach, which allow smoking only outdoors. But the new measure falls short of the action taken by Cal State Fullerton and the Los Angeles Unified School District, which have banned smoking anyplace on campus--including outdoors.

CSUN officials said they are counting on nonsmoking students and faculty to keep nicotine addicts in compliance since violators are not likely to be cited unless there is a flagrant violation of the rules, such as “someone who routinely aggravates people by blowing smoke in their faces,” campus spokeswoman Ann Salisbury said. School officials are considering various forms of punishment.

At CSUN, as at campuses nationwide, cigarette smoking has plummeted in popularity among young people.

“None of my friends smoke,” said CSUN student Amy Marks, 19. “I just think it’s gross.”

A landmark 1989 federal study showed the percentage of men age 20 and older who smoke has dropped from more than 50% to about 31% between 1965 and 1987. Among women in the same age group, the percentage of smokers fell from 32% to 27% during the same period.

But despite the decline, clerks at the CSUN Mercantile Exchange, a campus store, say they still sell about 35 packs a day, mostly Marlboro Lights. Sale of cigarettes will be banned at CSUN within six months.

Many CSUN smokers say they are unhappy with the new rules. Previously, smoking was prohibited only in classrooms, auditoriums and the gymnasium.

“Prohibiting smoking in the hallways makes sense, but having to be 30 feet from a building is ridiculous,” said student Sandra Jaime, 24.

Others--to recall an old cigarette slogan--would rather not fight than switch.

“I’m going to quit tomorrow anyway,” said Ray Johnson, 18, who started smoking only last month. “Sometimes when you walk by, people see you’re smoking and give you nasty looks. And I promised my girlfriend I was going to quit.”

Between puffs on her cigarette, Robin Stern, who teaches English as a second language, said she welcomes the new rules. “I’m a reformed smoker who cheats once in a while, so I think it’s good for me.”