Dungeon remains as it is
14 02 2008Chen Yu | yu_chen@nus.edu.sg
the ridge news
A NUSSU Publication
Feb. 14, 2008
Story Highlights:
The Dungeon looks set to retain its status as the illegitimate common area for student smokers.
Following defacement of the signboard located on the second storey of block AS1 in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, known as the Dungeon, and information of security guards collecting matriculation cards from student smokers, the ridge interviewed the relevant authorities about the possibility of setting up designated smoking areas within the campus and received luke-warm reactions.
“The decision reached was to maintain a smoke-free campus. This is in line with Health Promotion Board’s efforts to promote a smoke-free lifestyle”, said Dr Peck Thian Guan, Director of the Office of Safety, Health & Environment.
Peck explains that though the idea of setting up designated smoking areas was discussed within the office, the crowded campus of NUS makes it difficult to implement such a policy.
He also said that a designated smoking station would have to be far away from the places that non-smokers frequent, such as the labs and offices.
The National University of Singapore Students’ Union shares the same view.
“As students from a institute of higher learning, NUSSU supports a smoke-free, pollution-free, healthy and conducive learning environment in the NUS campuses,” said Tan Runyan, welfare secretary of the Union.
He acknowledges that the Union had looked into the proposals of setting up designated smoking areas but it was not a fruitful quest.
“We have asked for inputs and proposals from the smoking community. However, responses from these individuals are minimal.”
Victor (pseudonym), fourth-year computing student who regularly spends time at The Dungeon with his smoker-friends, makes up that voice of the minority.
He believes that the university should seriously look into reserving a place for smokers and that smoking should not be seen as a crime.
“It’s not as if I’m downloading pirated CDs”, he said.
Despite the university’s non-smoking policy, many smokers still smoke openly.
“Strict enforcement of the strict enforcement of the no-smoking rule is not possible due to various operational difficulties,” Peck said.
Charis Liew, first-year arts and social sciences student, said that smoking is rather rampant in campus and that she sees smokers in many places within campus.
“As much as I would say the concept of having smoking areas is good, I doubt it will prevent people from smoking out of them.”
i personally think smoking IS a crime since it is doing harm to others.
i was there earlier today and unfortunately had to wait for the class before mine to finish before we could enter the class as a group.
the amount of smoke there made my eyes water and i’m thankful that my asthma is milder now that i’m older.
there are classes held there. it you do wanna smoke, do it somewhere isolated. the ‘dungeon’ is not isolated. a friend pointed out that the ‘dungeon’ is known traditionally as the smoker’s place; i think it’s because people think it’s ‘traditional’ that it persists as a problem.
re: the request for the University to set aside a space for smokers, can smokers think of any place that will not be frequented by non-smokers?
Yati
oh come on give the smokers a break!
Why should we give smokers a break? Do we give thieves a break? Or rioters? Or delinquents?
Smokers, unfortunately, as a group, cause harm to others. It’s because there are people who think it’s no big deal (because it’s so ‘normal’) that the non-smokers (the majority, I might add) have to deal with coughs and are forced to move away.
I have nothing personal against the smokers. But the fact is the area is a public area where classes are held, as mentioned above.
If people who choose to smoke were given a decent place to smoke, they wouldn’t be hanging out at the dungeon, and we can minimise the harm they do to other people. It’s the whole banning policy that’s wrong; we should aim to govern and contain rather than marginalise a group.
I don’t approve of people smoking, but I’ll defend the right for them to choose how they order their lives. If a university still counts as a place of learning, we should be persuading and enlightening, not banning this-and-that outrightly.
Yati, smoking is a crime because the law says so.
NUS is so not a smoke free campus.. Sheesh.
At least not have any classes held at that horribly stink ass place!! And sometimes even when walking to the arts canteen, i still can smell the smoke coming from below.
Please. If smokers want to kill themselves, go ahead. It’s their own choice!!
But don’t affect the rest of us who do not appreciate inhaling second hand smoke.it puts us in danger too.
it’s interesting how im reading this and eavesdropping on a fellow student denouncing all talk of banning smoking on campus.
i think smokers should have the consideration to stop smoking when they see a big group of students waiting outside classrooms if that’s the case. who has the greater prerogative here? the students not the student-smokers.
there is a point in that the smokers seek a less-populated area to smoke. but when it does get crowded down there, refrain from smoking please?
I wonder why would the Administration want to make NUS into a smoke-free campus when they claim that strict enforcement of the no-smoking rule is not possible.
” but I’ll defend the right for them to choose how they order their lives. If a university still counts as a place of learning, we should be persuading and enlightening, not banning this-and-that outrightly. ”
Well said. Seriously, it’s already quite considerate that they’ve tried to smoke in a less invasive pattern.