Secret smoking noticed by McInnis faculty, staff members

Some Eastern students regularly smoke behind McInnis.

A faculty member and a staff member in McInnis know every time those students light a cigarette.

Director of INST 150 and Christian ethics professor Julie Elliott and transcript office and office manager for the registrar Crystal Tracy work along the side of McInnis where the students smoke, and their heating vents bring in air directly from the outside, according to Tracy.

“It smells like they’re standing in my office smoking,” Elliott said.

Tracy agreed, saying that the smell comes daily, often more than once, lasts for at least fifteen minutes and often gives her a headache. Elliott said the smoking has been going on since last year.

“I don’t smoke,” Tracy said. “I don’t want to smoke other people’s smoke. It offends me that people would blatantly break the rules.”

According to Eastern’s handbook, no smoking is allowed anywhere on campus or near campus. According to director of campus security, Jack Sheehan, this includes Cabrini and Fenimore Park.

Sheehan said that Security does occasionally check behind McInnis to see if there is anyone smoking there and will warn students they see openly smoking anywhere prohibited by Eastern.

He said he does not know why students choose to smoke behind McInnis, or at all, for that matter.

“At this stage of the development of the human being, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to smoke anywhere,” he said.

For Elliott and Tracy, dealing with the inexplicable smoking usually takes the form of asking the smokers to leave.

“I open my window and tell them to stop,” Elliott said. “They apologize, but the next day, they’re back.”