Demands smoking ban
Frustrated students are bothered by smoking neighbours. Now the Student Welfare Council is demanding a full ban on smoking in student housing.
- In today’s Norway you would not think that an organization such as Student Housing would have such an old-fashioned view on smoking, says medical student Øyunn Kleven.
Currently only the newly built student residences have a complete ban on smoking. In almost 80 percent of the Foundation for Student Life in Oslo (SiO)’s housing, you are still allowed to smoke, so long as it doesn’t happen in common areas.
Kleven, who lives in Vestgrensa Student Village, finds this problematical. In February a new neighbor moved in, and shortly afterwards she noticed that the new neighbor smoked indoors.
- It doesn’t take much for the two connected rooms to start stinking of cigarette smoke. In a living situation in which two people are living so closely together, things do not improve much just because the person is only smoking in their own room, she says.
The common areas that the two share consist of a narrow hall with a small kitchen at the end, and a bathroom. There are no windows in the kitchen or the bathroom that can be used to let air in.
- The smoke often seeps out through his door and into the hall, and the problem becomes even more critical when he has parties and people are going in and out. After a long night with many visitors, I feel like my room is full of smoke, even though I have my window open. The stench makes living here in tolerable, sighs Kleven, who makes it clear that she has an good relationship with her neighbor aside from this.
Student Welfare Council supports smoking ban
When Kleven asked whether her neighbor could not smoke outdoors instead, she received the answer that so long as he only smoked in his own room, SiO did not have anything against smoking in the student village.
- I was shocked when I discovered that he was right, says Kleven.
The frustrated medical student then got in touch with Student Housing, who run SiO’s bed-sits. All they could offer her was a transfer to new housing. Kleven thinks that this is unfair, as she had been living in her bed-sit for over a year when the new neighbor moved in.
- That I have to move is one thing, but I believe that a smoking ban in Student housing is a matter of principal. While the rest of the country has developed and come to their senses, Student Housing and SiO have stood still, says the exasperated medical student.
Kleven is supported by Fredrik Refsnes, leader of the Student Welfare Council (VT). At their action plan seminar in Febuary, VT resolved that Student Housing should be smoke free.
- Only around 1300 of the total 6000 bed-sits owned by SiO are currently completely smoke-free. That is of course not good enough, says Refnes.
He points out that in the private rental market it is not unusual for the landlord to demand that there is no smoking done indoors. Now he demands that SiO and Student Housing must follow this up with real action.
Will investigate
Tom Olstad, head of Student Housing, says that he is familiar with VT’s resolution.
- A student representative in our board at Student Housing has also put forward this suggestion. The administration is now faced with the task of investigating how we take this case further, he says.
- Why is smoking permitted? Doesn’t SiO’s policy go against the development of society on this point?
- Our strategy has been to make the new and renovated housing smoke free. We adjust to the society in general, but here there are many things to take into consideration here. According to who you ask, there are different opinions on this subject. Many would claim that rooms that are not part of the common areas are the tenant’s private area. Many would then feel that this is something we cannot regulate and that it would be an invasion of the private sphere.
-Is it not a problem when smoke seeps out from the doors of private rooms and disturbs other cohabitants?
-Yes, this is a problem that we must explore further. It is unfortunate.
- But can you promise a future smoking ban in all SiO’s student housing?
- No, it is too early to say. First this will have to be investigated, and then we will have to see what the results are. Personally, I do not have an opinion in this matter. It is not the case that we receive regular complaints regarding smoking in student housing, either.
Olstad thinks that the investigations will be ready in one to two months, and says that after this it will be up to the board at SiO to take the final decision.
Leader of the general board at SiO, Egil Heinert, does not wish to comment at present.
Fakta
- In a survey done by the Norwegian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research in the autumn of 2007, ten percent of students said that they smoked daily, 22 percents answered that they smoked “sometimes”, 18 percent had quit, while 51 percent informed that they had never smoked.
- The survey did not show any significant difference between the smoking habits of women and those of men.
