The university has expanded the no smoking zones on campus. But do the smokers know? It does not seem like it.

Whether she knows she is in an no smoking area? As an answer, Jasmijn looks around her, confused. ‘No smoking zone? How should I know that?’ She is not the only student who is not aware of the new situation. ‘You only cannot smoke in front of the doors, right?’ says Chiem.

‘You only cannot smoke in front of the doors, right?’

Since September, tiles all around campus prohibit smoking in certain areas. There are also signs. With this, the no smoking areas have been expanded, but students do not seem to aware of this fact.

And they are not the only one. Some university staff is also unaware of the signs and tiles. When we ask about them, the doorman of the Spinoza building says: ‘Tiles?’ Together we look out the window. ‘Oh that, yes, they have to be new, because I have never seen them before.’

‘I approve though’, she says. ‘The cigarette buds on the floor really drive me crazy. I have had a broom in my hand once, but then I thought: this is not what I am hired for. But it looks awful right?’ You can see the frustration in her face. Does she think students will be aware of the new rules? ‘They are not very visible. And people are like sheep, so when one of them starts smoking in front of the door again, six others will show up within ten minutes.’

Dirty
On to the university library. More new signs. Wouter is enjoying his cigarette, perfectly outside the no smoking area. ‘I am actually sitting here because of the sun’, he says, laughing. ‘I think this little wall is nice, so I prefer it here. Outside the no smoking area, but to be honest, that was not intentional.’

Student Julien is ‘illegally’ smoking within the area. He shrugs. ‘It is quiet here now, so it does not matter. I do understand the policy, if in a few hours this whole space fills up with smokers, it is gross to walk through it as a non-smoker. But for now, the one extra step does not matter much, right? By the way, I think it is quite confusing that the bin in which we have to throw our cigarette buds is placed within the no smoking area.’

‘I do think it is rude that people throw their cigarettes on the floor here’

This is something Jasmijn at Spinoza also is confused about. ‘The place to dispose of our cigarettes is here, and not there.’ She points at the bin, next to which she is smoking. ‘I do think it is rude that people throw their cigarettes on the floor here. I understand that it is frustrating to people.’

Does she fear a smoke-free campus? ‘I do not hope that we are banned all the way to the other side of campus’, she answers. Wouter thinks a smoke-free university might actually be a good idea. ‘Maybe it will make me quit.’