EAST LIVERPOOL – Assistant Dean Richard Wiscott wants to drop a friendly reminder to the KSU students and faculty about the smoking regulations for public places in Ohio.
Ashtrays have been place at the required distance of 20 feet from the entrances to both the Main and Mary Patterson buildings, so anyone smoking near an ashtray is in compliance. The laws must be obeyed, or the university can get into a lot of trouble, Wiscott explained. “I don’t want to penalize people.”
Anyone walking down the street who witnesses smoking in the door jams or other violations of the new state laws can make a complaint with a simple phone call. Each violation can result in a $2500 fine that the university must pay instead of spending the funds in more positive ways that benefit students.
“I realize that smoking is a personal choice,” Wiscott said, “and I’m not pointing fingers and telling people not to smoke.” He went on that he and the university try to accommodate the students as much as possible; he has even lent extra umbrellas to smokers on rainy days.
“We are stuck with the new state laws, and we want to be in compliance,” Wiscott said.
