Chelsea Howard

Every day I walk outside of Davis where multiple people are gathered in a group and hear them all look over at me and yell “What’s up” or “Hey girl”. This is not the way they only greet me, it’s the way that they greet almost all of their friends or even some of the by passers. There is however the few people that walk by this group and give them dirty looks or make gestures that imply they are not pleased with the smokers. This often results in the two people giving each other dirty looks and the occasional battle of the words, which can have the last word. Most of these mishaps happen because the smokers are taking up the entire sidewalk or if they are too close to the building.
One of the most dramatic situations that I have witnessed was late at night when most of Davis Hall is in bed, there was a group of smokers that were outside not being loud, but certainly not quiet. A girl was outside smoking a cigarette and started coughing when all of a sudden this guy yells from his room, “Keep smoking, get that cancer you dumbasses.” This set the rest of the group outside into a fury. The yelling continued back and forth between the two groups and finally the Residential Director from New Hall came over because his child was woken up by the argument. Everyone outside got their names taken down, even the people that did not participate, and the people inside the building got off with a clean slate. Many smokers get upset when this happens because the nonsmokers are never the ones to get yelled at. The authority only hears the distinct sounds coming from outside that could possibly be waking up the rest of the community. This often results in getting ones name taken down and a brief conversation with a Residential Director.
Everyday an hourly group of the same students stand outside, shouting to one another, playing hack sack and smoking multiple cigarettes. This happens throughout the day and most of the night. When the majority of people are sleeping, a group of smokers gather outside, shouting loudly, laughing hysterically and smoking their cigarettes. At night and during bad weather this group will stand under this cove in the building to shelter themselves from rain or snow. This causes smoke to linger up into the rooms of other students and they retaliate. Many times the ISO will come over and ask people to get twenty-five feet from the building. They listen; just long enough for the ISO to get into the building and then that all migrate back to the cove to stay dry and warm.
The smokers are not the only ones that have to take a beating for their habit. The nonsmokers get their fair share of torment from the smokers. When someone walks by that is giving even the slightest glare, all the people that smoke will make comments to the person. Also when the smokers are outside, they take up most of the sidewalk with the amount of people that are outside or because they are playing a game of hacky sack. This upsets many people because they cannot get through the large group or because they have to breathe more smoke than they would if they smoked their own cigarette.