Ashley Flores

Anchor Lead in: A petition is circulating at Texas State, aimed at stopping smokers from lighting up on campus. Ashley Flores has more.
They're everywhere. Non-smoking signs are posted outside most buildings and walls, yet we still see students smoking throughout campus. A group of non-smokers has decided to fight by creating a petition that would make Texas State smoke-free.  The idea has gotten some attention.
The petition lists several reasons a smoke-free campus would be to everyone's advantage.  Avoiding health risks is one such reason.
SB "I think the campus should be smoke free, just walking by it is detrimental to me.
Other grievances include higher clean-up costs on campus, unsafe levels of second-hand smoke and illness. Texas State senior Paul Moreno says he finds smokers to be intrusive.
SB "Walking by somebody and their smoke is in your face and it's not a fun time on campus."
But those who do light up seem to enjoy it.  Austin Nichols says it's a social activity for him.
SB "It's a sense of community, I come to this specific location in front of flowers hall specifically because I can meet people and share an activity, and one of those activities happens to be smoking."
Smoker Eric Hibbs says he doesn't believe the correlations that have linked smoking to bad health:
SB "Smoking areas will not impact health hazards…"
According to the petition, about 25 percent of the student body regularly lights up. Organizers of the petition drive are hoping their efforts will end the habit -- at least at Texas State. For Bobcat Update, I'm Ashley Flores.