To ban, or not to ban? That is the question over which SLU smokers and non-smokers alike are fuming this election season. The referendum would forbid smoking on campus, banishing smokers to parking lots and the edges of campus when they want to light up. Voters must realize that this referendum will not directly affect the smoking policy at SLU; it is merely a gauge of opinion-an opinion poll to be presented as evidence for a later, administrative decision.

After hearing both sides in the protracted debate, the smoke has settled-and so has our opinion. We stand firm on the conviction that smoking, though legal, has detrimental effects on public health.

Exposure to smoke, even second-hand, is unhealthy. Smoking is a personal decision, not an intrinsic characteristic; therefore, restricting smoking is not discrimination. Smoking is rightly banned indoors on campus, and it should be restricted to specific locations out of doors.

However, the best location for an outdoor smoking area is not in parking lots and on the perimeters of campus. DPS reports consistently remind us that this is where most crime occurs near SLU. This suggestion makes the referendum more dangerous than trace deposits of airborne carcinogens from cigarette smoke could ever be. If the smoking policy is to be changed, it must be made permanent and simple to enforce. Either smoking is allowed on campus-perhaps behind Fusz Hall, near DuBourg, or behind the Humanities building-or it is banned completely.

This referendum has its ideas in line, but it is too impractical to support.