The Morning Call reported today on a new policy at Kutztown University.

The outdoor-smoking ban at Pennsylvania’s state-owned universities that had some people fuming three months ago at Kutztown University could be modified, administrators said Wednesday.

A change proposed by the State System of Higher Education would allow puffing in cars as long as the windows are closed, along the sidewalks of public roads that pass through campuses and on the fringes of the 14 universities’ grounds, said system spokesman Kenn Marshall.

Onward State picked up this story from the Tumblr site Lehigh Valley with Love. Their commentary on the story was spot on:

So…Kutztown is essentially going to institute a new rule that would PROMOTE clambaking? What sense does it make to allow people to smoke in their cars as long as the windows are rolled up? Wouldn’t the smoke just come out when the doors are opened? WTF?

More inside.

USA Today had reported this story in mid-September. They noted that,

Penn State University, a public university that is not part of the state system, bans smoking inside buildings and university-owned vehicles and within a certain distance of building entrances, but allows smoking elsewhere at its flagship University Park campus in State College, a spokeswoman said. Some of Penn State’s other campuses have stricter bans, spokeswoman Lisa Powers said.

We’ve found that while some people only smoke in designated areas, it isn’t really enforced.

According to this report published in spring 2007 by Penn State Pulse, a division of Student Affairs,

When all students were asked to describe their current smoking behavior, 72.1% responded they don’t smoke; 13.3 % smoke mostly in social situations; 5.8% smoke cigarettes every day; 5.5% used to smoke but quit; and 3.2% smoke occasionally (these percentages are similar to what was found in 2004) (data not shown).

You can find the full PDF report here.