Smoke Rises From Adams Residents' Ears

Some Adams House residents are charging that smokers near the house's Pool Theatre and Molotov Cafe have set off fire alarms, polluted the air and even traumatized plants.

A few angry students have posted their complaints to the Adams House newsgroup, an electronic bulletin board.

"I just wanted to thank the human chimneys who were smoking up a storm in the Pool Theatre and caused the fire alarms to go off last week," a junior in the house writes in one post. "It's ALWAYS good for the nerves to be blasted out of an exhaustion-induced sleep."

The junior also complains in another post that the noisy fire alarms have disturbed her spider plants.

"Do you know what the noise is doing to my PLANTS?" she wrote. "Spider plants WILL ATTACK YOU when they are upset (I tell not a lie)."

But Winsome S.M. Brown '95, an Adams House affiliate who has been involved in Pool Theater performances, says she doubts that cigarette smoke was the cause of the fire alarms.

"Smoke from one or 20 cigarettes is insufficient to make a fire alarm go off unless they were held directly up to the fire alarm as anyone who has been to a large party can tell you," Brown says.

Brown says Adams House is unfairly portrayed as being populated by students with nicotine habits.

"Adams has a reputation of being a house full of smokers," Brown says. "This is undeserved in terms of per capita smokers."

"If you went to Duster House you would find about the same. I know the ratio is parallel if not indeed higher."

Smoking in the House

But Sean M. Thornton '94 says that for some students, smoking is part of living in the house. He says students would refuse to kick the habit no matter what rules the administration imposes.

"People here like to cultivate the Bohemian image," Thornton says. "I started smoking after I came to Adams House. I thought it was funny, the artsy image that people have. Smoking was an affectation that I developed in the [house's] Molotov Cafe."

Currently, the restrictions on smoking in Adams House are few. Smoking is prohibited in the dining room, but is permitted in the cafe and private rooms, according to students.

Residents also smoke in the hallways and underground tunnels of the house, although they are sometimes asked to put out cigarettes by the house security guard.

James R. Haney '94, who lives in D-entry, says the smoke clouds produced at the door to his entry have forced him to consider alternative ways of getting in and out of the building.

"I would try to avoid them by going to another entrance, if I knew they would be there," Haney says.

Haney says house smokers are fairly considerate, but that his friend has reported problems.

"I live in D-entry," Haney writes in a post to the house newsgroup, "but a friend of mine who lives on the first floor of A (with a conveniently placed bedroom window that points directly toward the Pool Theatre) has suggested that if these drama types in B-entry don't start being more considerate about smoking in public walk-ways and setting off fire alarms that he might start blasting his stereo during Pool Theater performances."

Haney says the level of smoke has been reduced in recent days. And he says he thinks that may be because messages on the newsgroup have alerted on house committee members to the problem.

But that may not solve all the problems that students blame on smokers.Another house junior, who spoke on condition ofanonymity, says the biggest nuisance caused bysmokers is not smoke but the trail of ashes theyleave behind.

Says the junior: "I've noticed people smokingin the stairway and leaving ashes and glasses allscummy and ashy around which I'm not too happyabout.

Says the junior: "I've noticed people smokingin the stairway and leaving ashes and glasses allscummy and ashy around which I'm not too happyabout.