Smoking banned at the College of Dentistry

The NYU College of Dentistry campus is officially smoke-free as of this week.

Michael O'Connor, the school's executive associate dean for administration and finance, announced in an e-mail on Monday that in addition to no smoking inside the building, a smoking ban within 15 feet from any part of the exterior of the building (including all entrances and exits) was official.

The NYU administration is considering a similar universitywide ban. Alison Leary, NYU's senior vice president for operations, sent an e-mail in late October asking for feedback regarding a proposal to prohibit smoking within 15 feet of entrances and exits as well as fresh air vents of all NYU buildings.

"As an academic community, we have made a collective choice to discourage smoking in order to create a better environment for our students, faculty, staff and patients," O'Connor said. "A smoke-free policy is consistent with our mission."

The policy was primarily implemented in accordance with a recent New York State Department of Health mandate that established specific no-smoking policies for institutions under Article 28, which include dental schools and dental hygiene training programs.

Some school administrators have noticed a number of people standing in front of the building with lit cigarettes while still in their lab coats. O'Connor said he felt this was unacceptable behavior for health care providers.

"We have to set the example if we want to help change the culture of society," he said.

O'Connor added that the College of Dentistry will sponsor a smoking cessation program for students, faculty and staff in January.

"It is our belief that we have to offer a service for those who want to quit smoking but can't," he said. "We are hopeful that our health care providers will heed the message on their own and understand its value."

Yesterday afternoon, the College of Dentistry participated in the Great American Smokeout, which the American Cancer Society created 33 years ago to encourage smokers to quit.

Second-year dental student Deepa Chaudhury sees the ban as beneficial.

Chaudhury said: "It's not professional for doctors to be smoking while we tell the patients not to."

Feiye Wang is a staff writer.