The Berkeley Beacon

Issue date: 11/16/06 Section: News

Media Credit: Steve Klise Juniors Brendan Lewis, a theatre major, Alessandro Tabora, a writing, literature and publishing major and Zac Palladino, a new media major, enjoy a smoke outside the Walker Building.

A rule restricting smoking within 25 feet of the Piano Row Residence Hall has forced those in need of a nicotine fix into the doorways and storefronts of local businesses.

Area business owners have found the rule to be kind of a drag.

John Beresford, manager of Commonwealth Books, which adjoins Piano Row, said the smoke in front of his doorway has been a problem recently.

"The administration shouldn't be imposing what they call a problem on other people," Beresford said.

Students interviewed said they had a hard time finding places to smoke without breaking the 25-foot rule or disturbing businesses.

Dan Foley, a junior film major, said the rule constituted a direct insult to local businesses.

"I think it's ridiculous that I can't smoke in front of the building that I live in," Foley said. "I pay a lot of money to live here and I should be able to smoke a cigarette."

Piano Row was commissioned as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building. Along with installing automatic-flush toilets to conserve water and large windows to encourage the use of natural light, Emerson College prohibits smoking outside of the building in order to meet a LEED provision for the management of Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS). Forcing people to move away from the building to smoke is intended to make the building's ventilation cleaner.

Ronald Ludman, dean of students, said the environment-friendly LEED specifications were part of the building's plan from the beginning. Earth Emerson was among the student organizations pushing for a green building, Ludman said.

Since the building's opening, the areas in front of Bavarian Antiques, the Steinway Piano Building, Troquet and Commonwealth Books have all become popular places for Emerson smokers. At M. Steinert and Sons, the displaced smokers have become a source of discussion.

"I think it's ridiculous that because it [Piano Row] is a Green building, we have to bear the brunt of students' behavior," said Marianne Jensen, an employee at Steinway.

Continued...

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