The Good and the Bad of Tempe

The lovely liberal town of Tempe has passed a no smoking policy that prohibits smoking inside public establishments. Such ordinances are fabulous, in part because they keep my students from firing up during class, and spilled coffee is much more humorous than ash burns.

This morning, I am lounging in the Architecture building on its very nice second story veranda. I overlook a stylish courtyard with a very cool temporary art installation of colored burlap, canvas and other fabric stretched between buildings. I love the buildings that house the art and architecture faculty because they are visually interesting. Even the bland ones are covered with sketches, blueprints and models. I used to do most of my studying at the Design Art Architecture and Planning building at Cincinnati. At ASU, the building is one of the newer ones, with a Michael Graves-ish quality to it. The balcony is shaded by stretched canvas and lots of tropical plants, with a tile floor and columns along the outer rail. It's one of the nicer, quiter spots on campus. I'm sure you have followed me to my point: I'm surrounded by frickin' smokers! The ugly offshoot of no smoking ordinances--choking clouds of tar and nicotine at any outdoor cafe, courtyard, door entryway, and park picnic table.

Forget trying to regulate the smoking industry to minimize damage. Let's mandate that they ramp up any and all cancerous chemicals in their sticks to lethal levels--I mean, more lethal levels. Kill 'em off sooner so the rest of us that can read a warning label can get on with our lives in peace and fresh air.