Yesterday, I read with alarm that Student Senate is talking about secondhand smoke. Sure, enforcing existing restrictions on smoking within ten feet of an entrance or exit is reasonable. But more often than not these days, when the powers that be on college campuses start talking about secondhand smoke, all the talk results in blanket, campus-wide smoking bans.
Because smoking is still legal, it should be considered protected behavior under our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and expression. So here's a heads-up to Student Senate and any administrators thinking about a smoking ban: If you ban smoking on campus, I will be outside Cutler Hall each and every day lighting a cigarette to protest the infringement of my free expression. I don't think I'll be alone.
Nate Nelson is a junior studying political science and a former columnist for The Post.
4 Opinion
