To inform the community about the PDA position on the new smoking policy, the PDA is publishing a letter sent to Virginia Huffman, Vice President for Human Resources.

Dear Virginia,

As you are no doubt aware, the recent changes to the Rockefeller University smoking policy have not received unanimous support amongst the postdoctoral and student communities. While we understand the health issues and appreciate that smoking on campus has been the cause of a number of complaints in past years, both the postdoc (PDA) and student representatives (SRC) felt it important to collate the opinions of postdocs, RA’s and students across campus. Of 40 responses expressing an opinion, 12 were completely in favor of the new restrictions while 28 felt extra provisions should be made for smokers on the south side of campus. This latter category of response came from both smokers and non-smokers.

We understand that options for a designated smoking area on the south side of campus are being considered. Given the response to our survey, and the fact that, since September 1, south campus smokers have tended to congregate directly in front of the Child and Family Center at the 64th Street gate, we would like to stress the importance of finding a suitable area as soon as possible. The PDA and SRC feel that the search for a suitable smoking area should also apply common sense. The amount of time smokers would invest in moving back and forth from the future designated area as well as its openness and isolation are important factors to consider. Several suggestions were made for a smoking area on the south side of campus. The most popular (suggested by 13 people in total) was the south-east upper terrace, near the door on the second floor of RRB. The PDA and the SRC members agree that the elevation, openness, and windiness of this location makes it the most suitable area for smoke to quickly dissipate and thereby avoid second hand effects. In addition, because the location is isolated there is very little pedestrian traffic and people usually don’t walk through this area to get to other places. Also suggested was the parking lot between 65th and 66th streets, and behind the Weiss building on the 1st floor.

If necessary, we would be happy to discuss the results of our survey more fully, and to aid the identification of a suitable smoking area on the south side of campus at the earliest possible date.

Best regards,
The PDA and SRC