Five years after being declared a "smoke-free campus," SF State students still light up at will across university grounds without any real fear of repercussions.

In 2004, SF State Academic Senate members passed a resolution calling for the University to be a smoke-free campus, subsequently approved by University President Robert Corrigan. However, some members of the senate that approved the policy, along with some professors and students, feel that the policy has been a failure due to a lack of enforcement and meaningful implementation.

"The 'smoke-free campus' campaign was a waste of time and money," broadcasting professor and 2004 Academic Senate member Rick Houlberg said. "Based on what I've seen, students now smoke more, are more open about their smoking and regularly smoke while walking through crowds."

In September of 2002, the California State University board of trustees adopted a resolution allowing each CSU president to limit smoking to specified areas or ban smoking on their campus altogether.

Of the 23 California State Universities given the option by the board of trustees to limit smoking or prohibit it completely, SF State was the only campus to act on it, according to the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation. However, members of the SF State smoke-free task force, a group responsible for assessing the effectiveness of strategies and awareness of the smoke-free campus policy, say the main weakness is that there was never any intended enforcement strategy.

"This was put into place in hopes that social norms and respect for one another would carry the day," smoke-free task force Chair Sheila McClear said.

"Are we smoke-free? Absolutely not," she said.

McClear, also the director of special projects in the office of the president, said that although she thinks there has been an increase in awareness, the policy still needs some "teeth" in it, but still nothing too "over-the-top."

According to McClear, the smoking policy task force is looking into new methods of enforcement that don't flood the City of San Francisco's justice department with petty smoking citations, a main reason for not issuing tickets. Also, McClear said that the task force is hoping to develop a newer, more centralized designated smoking area in hopes of improving compliance.

The danger of second-hand smoke is the primary motivation for pursuing a campus sans cigarettes, according to McClear.

"It doesn't bother me," 18-year-old freshman Nick Tang, a nonsmoker, said of others smoking on campus. "But the school's not doing its job enforcing it."

According to Capt. Reggie Parson, the Department of Public Safety does not issue any sort of citation for smoking outside of the designated areas, which are located in six locations on the edge of campus. University police have only issued warning cards that provide education on the campus smoking policy on one side and locations of the designated areas on the other.

"Educating the campus community of the policy has been the main mission of the University police department," Parson said.

Some members of the SF State Smoking Policy Task Force, a committee of 14 members of administration, faculty and other important figures on campus, feel that the school has been unsuccessful in following through on the policy.

"Enforcement is a major problem, since there is no consequence for smokers who do not comply," associate professor of nursing and task force member Grace Hardie said.

Some feel this lack of consequence is what led to the breakdown of the policy, and only serves to make SF State seem foolish for making such a claim.

"All in all, I have found the campaign a joke that does nothing but make our campus look stupid and smell bad," Houlberg said. Houlberg voted in favor of the ban in 2004.

After hearing from smokers on campus, the overwhelming attitude is that they don't care and they aren't exactly being pressured to.

"Me and my friends always laugh about it," 20-year-old junior Danny Song said. "It's really hard to take it seriously when you have half the campus outside smoking cigs."

Song regularly smokes on campus and said that when University police have approached him while puffing, he was merely told to put it out and went around the corner and re-lit.